The number of people in the hospital with COVID-19 continues to climb in New Brunswick.
Updated figures released by the Horizon and Vitalité health networks show 114 people in the hospital as of Saturday, including four in intensive care.
That is compared to 95 hospitalizations and seven ICU admissions reported by the health authorities one week earlier.
- Horizon Health: 84 active admissions and two in intensive care, compared to 78 active admissions and six in intensive care one week ago.
- Vitalité Health: 30 active admissions and two in intensive care, compared to 17 active admissions and one in intensive care one week ago.
The figures reported by the health authorities include those hospitalized for COVID and those with the virus being treated primarily for other conditions.
Meanwhile, the latest weekly COVIDWATCH update from the province — which only includes patients hospitalized as a result of COVID — showed 22 people in hospital as of Saturday, an increase of five. The number of people in an ICU fell to one.
There were 30 new hospital admissions for COVID over the past week compared to 15 new admissions the previous week, according to Public Health.
There was one new ICU admission for COVID-19 over the same period compared to two the week before.
Saint John region remains hotspot for new cases
There were 2,324 reported positive cases of COVID-19 over the past week, down from 2,465 cases the previous week. Those figures included 1,004 PCR tests and 1,320 rapid tests.
The Saint John health region, Zone 2, remains the hotspot with 695 new cases, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of last week’s total case count.
The Moncton health region (Zone 1) recorded nearly 28 per cent of the new cases while the Fredericton health region (Zone 3) recorded about 23 per cent of the new cases.
Amongst the most recent random samples sequenced, 21 per cent were the BA.2 variant, 22 per cent were BA.4, and 57 per cent were BA.5.
Five more deaths reported
New Brunswick reported five more deaths related to COVID-19 over the past week.
The latest deaths, according to the provincial report, all involve people in their 70s and 80s.
There have been 438 deaths attributed to the virus in New Brunswick since the pandemic began.
More than 800 vaccine doses given
In terms of vaccinations, the Department of Health says 864 doses were given out over the past week, including 119 first doses, 196 second doses, and 549 booster doses.
Just over 88 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received two doses and 53 per cent have received booster shots.
According to the two health authorities, 229 health care workers were off the job as of Saturday for COVID-related reasons, up from 204 a week earlier.
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