The number of new cases has decreased compared to last week, with the highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 and BA.4 subvariants now accounting for more than 90 percent of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing. But the number of tests carried out also decreased. “We continue to be in a period of increased COVID activity right now,” said Dr. Yves Léger, the acting chief medical director of health. “It’s not unusual to see hospital admissions continue to rise. It’s what we call a lag index.” Cases usually increase first, followed by an increase in hospitalizations, Léger said. Given the drop in cases this week, the next week or so will be impressive, he said. “If this trend continues, [it] it may mean we are entering a period of declining activity.” The number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 at Vitalité Health Network hospitals fell last week, according to the latest figures. Horizon Health Network’s weekly update has yet to be released.
Deaths and hospitalizations
The latest deaths for New Brunswick include one person in their 60s, two in their 70s and two in their 80s, according to the province’s COVIDWatch report. The death toll from the pandemic has now reached 443. Forty people were recently hospitalized for COVID-19 between July 17 and July 23, up from 30 the previous week. The number of active hospitalizations also rose to 34, up from 22. Three of the patients required intensive care, up from one. This does not include patients who were initially admitted for another reason and later tested positive for the virus. Among those admitted for COVID are one person in their 20s, three in their 40s, three in their 50s, eight in their 60s, seven in their 70s, 13 in their 80s and five in their 90s. ICU admissions include two people in their 50s and one in their 60s. Dr. Yves Léger, regional medical officer of health, continues to urge everyone to get whatever dose of the COVID-19 vaccine they are eligible for. (Pascal Raiche-Nogue/Radio-Canada) The highest rate of hospitalizations for COVID-19 is among people ages 70 to 89, according to the report. “Vaccine-unprotected people continue to have the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 and death,” it says. A total of 53.1 percent of eligible New Brunswickers have now received their third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 0.1 percent from last week after 607 shots were administered. The two-dose rate remains unchanged at 88.3 percent after just 208 people rolled up their sleeves, and the first-dose rate also remains unchanged at 93.3 percent with only 155 new downloads. A total of 1,967 new cases of COVID were recorded last week, up from 2,324 the previous week and 2,465 the week before. Of the new cases, 938 were laboratory-confirmed by PCR testing (down from 1,004), while the remaining 1,029 were self-reported by people who tested positive for rapid tests (down from 1,320). Both tests are limited in New Brunswick to people with symptoms. PCR testing is also limited to certain groups of people considered to be at higher risk. 5,408 PCR tests were performed last week, up from 5,905 on July 10 to July 16. A random sampling of the most recent cases found 71 percent are Omicron subvariant BA.5, 20 percent are BA.4, and nine percent are BA.2. There are now 1,374 active PCR-confirmed cases across the province, up from 1,506 in last week’s report. New Brunswick has had 71,479 confirmed cases of COVID since the start of the pandemic, with 69,662 cases considered resolved so far.
COVID-19 hospitalizations decrease at Vitalité
Vitalité has had 26 COVID-19 patients hospitalized since Saturday, out of 30, including three in intensive care, up one, the COVID-19 dashboard shows. This includes patients admitted for COVID as well as those who were initially admitted for another reason and later tested positive for the virus. Vitalité also has fewer health care workers off the job due to COVID than a week ago, Tuesday’s update showed, but more hospital units with COVID cases. Of the 26 hospitalized patients with COVID-19, the largest percentage are at Campbellton Regional Hospital in Zone 5, followed by University Hospital Center Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont in the Moncton area, Zone 1, with five patients, including one in ICU. Tracadie Hospital in Zone 6 also has five patients with COVID, while Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst, also in Zone 6, has four, including one in ICU, and Edmundston Regional Hospital, in Zone 4, also has four patients, including one in the ICU. Eight hospital units now have COVID cases, up from five last week, the dashboard shows. The three new cases include:
Intensive care unit of the Chaleur Regional Hospital, 4 West, and the maternity unit. Edmundston Regional Hospital Medical Unit.
The other cases include: Dumont’s 4A general surgery unit; Tracadie Hospital Medical Unit and 2nd North Ward. Campbellton Hospital Geriatric Unit and Restigouche Hospital C-1 Continuous Rehabilitation Unit. There are 128 Vitalité workers out of work after either testing positive for COVID-19 or coming into contact with a positive case, as of Saturday. This is down from 141 the previous week.
