Hospital admissions and deaths rose while the number of COVID-19 cases fell last week compared to the previous week, according to the province’s latest weekly report.
There were six new deaths: one in their 50s, four in their 80s and one over 90, compared to four in the previous week. That brings the total number of deaths in New Brunswick to 472 on Saturday. The vast majority—81 percent—are people over 70 years old.
Last week there were 589 new cases compared to 712 the previous week.
“I think the fact that we’re in a stable period is a good thing,” said Dr. Jennifer Russell, New Brunswick’s chief medical officer of health.
He noted that deaths have increased by two, ICU admissions have decreased by two and hospitalizations by four. All of these categories have remained fairly stable over the summer months.
“One thing we noticed is that our peak never ended up being as high as we thought it would be and that’s a good thing,” Russell said.
The highest proportion of hospitalizations for COVID-19 remains among people aged 70 to 89. Twenty-five percent of all income is for the 70-year-old, even though that age group only represents 10 percent of New Brunswick’s population.
7-day moving average of hospitalizations for COVID-19 as of December 5, 2021. (Government of New Brunswick)
The number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 rose last week from the previous week from 31 to 35, according to the report released Wednesday afternoon.
The number of active hospitalizations also increased. There were 37 last week compared to 33 the week before.
The seven-day moving average for hospitalizations rose last week, but the seven-day moving average for cases fell.
The report also stated that people unprotected by the vaccine continue to have the highest rate of ICU admission, at 58.5% as of December 5, 2021, compared to 41.5% of protected
“The people who are most at risk are those people who are not fully up to date on their vaccinations,” Russell said.
Russell said everyone who is eligible for a booster should go ahead and get it.
And not just because of COVID-19. He encourages everyone to be up to date on all vaccinations, including flu shots, as public health officials predict a worse than usual flu season.
Hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths by age group to September 3, 2022. (Government of New Brunswick)
In New Brunswick, children ages five to 11 who received their first shot are now eligible to receive their first booster dose. Like all other people eligible for a booster, it must have been five months since the last vaccination or since infection with COVID-19, whichever is more recent.
“Vaccines have been shown to provide protection against severe illness or hospitalization from COVID-19,” Russell said.
The province offers online help to book a vaccine or by phone at 1-833-437-1424.
Pandemic or endemic?
With restrictions lifted in New Brunswick, it may seem to some as if the pandemic is over, but it’s not, Russell said.
Recently, government officials have repeated several times the sentiment that New Brunswick is post-COVID-19 or post-pandemic. Even a cabinet minister and former health minister got it wrong.
In a press release on Wednesday about residential facilities for adults being provided with iPads, Social Development Minister Dorothy Shephard said: “Although we are no longer in a pandemic, the goal of connecting everyone remains being important.”
The government later revised that statement, saying there had been “an oversight”. The release was changed to read: “Although we are no longer in a pandemic lockdown…”.
Russell said New Brunswick will take the lead from the World Health Organization and the Public Health Agency of Canada, neither of which has declared the pandemic over.
“We feel like we’re entering a period of endemicity,” he said.
It means “that COVID is around. It’s going to be around for a long time. And this transition from pandemic to endemic doesn’t mean it’s over. It means it’s persistent and it’s circulating in our population.”
University of Ottawa epidemiologist Raywat Deonandan says entering an endemic stage of COVID at current transmission levels would be “pretty tough.” (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Raywat Deonandan, a global health epidemiologist and associate professor at the University of Ottawa, said there is no question there is a pandemic, but the definition of a pandemic is “extremely loose.”
Deonandan said the official definition contained in the Dictionary of Epidemiology is “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or in a very wide area, crossing international borders and usually affecting a large number of people.”
“That’s it,” said Deonandan. And it could be applied to obesity, depression or hunger.
He says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes a clear distinction between “outbreak,” “epidemic,” and “pandemic.”
“An outbreak is just an increase in cases, more than would normally be seen, and this is usually in a defined local region. An epidemic is a large outbreak in a larger, defined region. And a pandemic is an epidemic in many countries .” said Deonandan.
The distinctions have nothing to do with the severity of the disease, he stressed. It’s about how many people are affected.
“When the WHO defines a pandemic, on the other hand, this is an administrative and bureaucratic definition based on its own internal criteria.”
Deonandan said the WHO will likely declare the pandemic over when the time is right, and other organizations around the world will likely follow suit.
But we’re not there yet, he said.
“The disease still affects a large number of people, compromising our daily activities such as going to school, work and travel, and putting many people in hospital. So it is too soon to retire from this emergency. mentality.”
Vaccination status, proportion, and rate per 100,000 hospitalizations and deaths reported as of December 5, 2021. (Government of New Brunswick)
Deonandan said people are misusing endemic “to mean it’s gone.”
He said it’s not a sliding scale from pandemic to endemic. It simply means that there are no waves of the disease.
If COVID became endemic at current infection rates without a wave, “it would be pretty serious,” Deonandan said.
“So the goal is to lower the incidence rate and keep it there and let that be our new endemic normal.”
He said there are many endemic diseases around, such as measles and chicken pox for example.
“If we let our foot off the brakes, we would have a lot of suffering from measles and chicken pox, but we have a lot of public health pressure to control this endemicity,” Deonandan said.
“Endemic, unfortunately, is used as the equivalent of ‘good’. It’s not good, it just means it’s the new normal.”
Regional health authorities
Meanwhile, the two regional health authorities in the province, which include in their weekly reports people admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19, as well as those initially admitted for another reason and who later test positive for the virus, say that there are 83 New Brunswickers hospitalized for or with COVID-19, three of whom required intensive care, a decrease from the previous week.
Horizon Health Network reported 55 active hospital admissions for COVID-19, but none in the ICU as of Saturday. This compares with 71 admissions and three intensive care patients the previous week.
The Vitalité Health Network reported 28 hospitalized patients, the same number as the previous week, with three in intensive care, one more than the previous week, as reported. the network’s COVID dashboard.
Horizon also reported 12 outbreaks in hospital units in the province and 30 staff members out of work due to positive COVID tests, while Vitalité reported 89 workers due to COVID and outbreaks in four units.