Four more people in New Brunswick died from COVID-19 last week, hospitalizations due to the virus have risen and the number of new positive cases has nearly doubled, according to figures released by the province on Tuesday.
There are likely to be more increases, including the possibility of a new wave, said Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s medical director of health.
“That’s what it looks like, but we’re still analyzing the data,” he said, noting that BC and Ottawa recently announced they are experiencing new waves.
“I think over the next week we will be able to determine here if that is the case.” The province has no model, he said.
“Meanwhile, the message really refers to the dose for which you are eligible, understand that.”
He was asked if New Brunswick is considering making COVID-19 vaccinations widely available in the fall, taking into account the recommendations of the federal advisory body last week, Russell couldn’t tell.
“I don’t have the information on what’s to come in terms of this plan, but we’re definitely having discussions about it: all the provinces are discussing what should happen now and what should happen in the fall.”
People at high risk for COVID-19 infection, including those aged 65 and over, should be offered a booster vaccine this fall, regardless of how many booster shots they have previously received, he said. National Immunization Advisory Committee (NACI). . The rest of the people, ages 12 to 64, “can be offered” the extra doses in the fall, NACI said.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province’s medical director of health, said New Brunswick is experiencing a “steady increase” in the more transmissible Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. (Ed Hunter / CBC)
The latest deaths include four people in their 80s: two from the Moncton region, Zone 1, one from the Saint John region, Zone 2, and one from the Campbellton region, Zone 5, according to the COVIDWatch report.
Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, New Brunswick has recorded 429 deaths from COVID-19.
The number of people recently admitted to hospital for COVID-19 increased to 22 between June 26 and July 2, compared to six the previous week.
Among the new admissions is a child under 10 years old. The others include a 40-year-old, four 50-year-olds, three 60-year-olds, four 70-year-olds, eight 80-year-olds and one 90-year-old.
50 people with COVID in the hospital
According to the province, the number of people currently hospitalized due to COVID has increased to 19 from 15, including one requiring intensive care.
Health networks Horizon and Vitalité, meanwhile, also reported an increase in the number of active hospitalizations, saying they had 50 patients with COVID on Saturday, four of whom required intensive care, compared with 31 and one respectively a week before.
Unlike the province, which only includes patients admitted by COVID, Horizon and Vitalité also include those who were initially admitted for another reason and who subsequently tested positive for the virus in the weekly updates to the COVID control panel.
Horizon had 36 active admissions for COVID-19, including three in intensive care, on Saturday, compared to 24 and one in last week’s report.
The distribution of cases includes:
- Moncton Region, Zone 1 – Five.
- Sant Joan Region, Zone 2 – 17.
- Fredericton Region, Zone 3 – 12.
- Miramichi Region, Zone 7 – two.
The board does not provide details on which hospitals have patients.
Vitality had 14 patients with COVID-19 hospitalized on Saturday, twice as many as a week ago, including one in need of intensive care.
Tracadie Hospital has five of the patients, three are at the Dr. University Hospital Center. Georges-L.-Dumont of Moncton, including the intensive care unit, while Edmundston Regional Hospital, Campbellton Regional Hospital and Chaur de Bathurst Regional Hospital have each. two.
Vaccination rates do not change
The highest share of hospitalizations for COVID-19 remains among people aged 60 to 79, depending on the province.
“People who are not protected by the vaccine continue to have the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 and death,” the report states.
The number of eligible New Brunswick residents who rolled out to receive their first, second or booster dose last week (80, 160 and 375 respectively) was too small to modify vaccination rates.
A total of 93.3% received one dose, 88.2% received two doses, and 52.8% received a booster dose.
But the fourth doses increased, Russell said.
“We are seeing some good increases, such as 2.6% in the group over 50 and 5.1% in the group over 70. Thus, a total of 15,000 people received [their fourth dose] in the last week. This is great. We would like to see more. “
Any progress in vaccination rates contributes not only to individual protection, “but also to population-level protection and the protection of the hospital system,” he said.
“We know that at this time of year it’s a planned slowdown at the hospital level so people can take vacations, and so on.”
New Brunswick has about 6,000 doses of vaccine that will expire by the end of next month, including 5,930 doses of Moderna (August 18) and 50 doses of the Nuvaxovid protein-based vaccine (August 31).
“It’s important to get vaccinated so we can use those doses before they expire,” Russell said.
The province will throw out expired doses and ask for more doses from the federal government, he said.
Nearly 28,000 doses of pediatric vaccine expire by the end of September.
“As much as we can encourage people to get vaccinated with the doses to which they are eligible, that’s what we need to do.”
The province’s vaccine supply also includes 81,378 doses of Pfizer-BioNTech, which will expire on November 30, and 500 doses of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine, with an expiration date of September 30, 2023.
1,915 new cases, 40% in the San Juan region
A total of 1,915 new cases of COVID-19 were reported last week, compared to 1,025.
Most of the new cases, 769, are in the St. John’s region, Zone 2, which hosted the Memorial Cup Junior Senior Hockey Championship last week. culminating in a celebratory parade and thousands of fans strolling the streets of the upper part of San Juan.
The 12-day event, which began on June 16, also included the Bash on the Bay music festival in the new seafront container town, a series of speakers in the market square, hockey tournaments ball and a bike ride.
“It’s definitely a big leap into Zone 2,” Russell said.
“But we’re seeing increases elsewhere. You know, I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t know someone with COVID right now.”
When asked if he thinks the increase in Zone 2 is related to the tournament and hockey events, Russell replied, “These are things that increase the risks, but I don’t know how many of these people wore masks or not. So there are a lot of factors to consider, but in terms of what we’re seeing, we’re seeing pretty high numbers in Zone 2. “
Big Tide Brewing Company, which congratulated the Saint John Sea Dogs organization on a social media post for an “amazing Memorial Cup event topped with the big W,” announced Monday night that it should temporarily reduce its schedule due to staff shortages due to COVID.
“We spent 28 months without any major outbursts among our team! But here we are now with several staff members at home with COVID!” the pub and beer restaurant in upstairs Saint John posted on Instagram.
“We’re temporarily changing our schedules over the next few days because of that.”
Of the 768 new cases confirmed by PCR, 286 were found in the Saint John region, Zone 2, which hosted the Memorial Cup tournament and 12 days of related events, starting June 16th. (Government of New Brunswick)
Of the new cases, 768 were confirmed by PCR laboratory tests (compared to 484) and 1,147 were self-reported by people who tested positive in rapid tests (out of 541).
During the reporting period, 3,793 PCR tests were performed, compared to 3,755 in the last report.
There are now 966 active cases confirmed by PCR across the province, compared to 657.
The Omicron BA.2 subvariant remains the dominant strain in the province, accounting for 53% of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing, the report shows, but the Omicron BA.5 subvariant continues to gain ground, representing 33 %, while the subvariant Omicron BA.4 accounted for 14 per cent of the samples.
Outbreaks, staffing, employment
Horizon has outbreaks of COVID-19 in eight hospital units, more than four a week ago: two in the Moncton region, zone 1, five in the Saint John region, zone 2 and one in the Fredericton region, the zone 3. Outbreaks include:
- Medical Surgery Intensive Care Unit and 3200 Adult Psychiatry Unit at Moncton Hospital.
- 5CS Family Medicine Unit at Saint John Regional Hospital, Surgical Intensive Care Unit and 4CS Rehabilitation Unit.
- Family Medicine Unit, Sussex Health Center, South Wing.
- Geriatric assessment unit of Hospital Sant Josep, geriatric emergency management, 5th floor.
- Dr. 3NE’s rehabilitation unit Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital.
Vitalité has no units with COVID outbreaks, according to its board.
The number of health workers who quit their jobs after testing positive for COVID-19 or coming into contact with a positive case continues to rise, to 182, from 118.
Horizon has 100 of the absences, shows its dashboard.
Vitalité has 82 workers on leave. The Moncton region, Zone 1, has the largest share, with 34, followed by the Bathurst region, Zone 6, with 29, Campbellton Region, Zone 5, with 11, and the Edmundston region, Zone 4, with eight.
Horizon has an over-capacity hospital, according to figures provided by spokesman Kris McDavid. Waterville Upper River Valley Hospital has a bed occupancy rate of 108%.
Vitalité has five hospitals with capacity or more, two of which have patients with COVID.
The University Hospital Center Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont a …