COVID-related deaths, hospitalizations and cases down in N.B.

The number of COVID-related deaths, hospitalizations and new cases have all decreased slightly in the past week, according to the province's latest figures.

COVID-19 claimed four more New Brunswickers between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, down from six the previous week, the COVIDWatch report shows.

The latest deaths include a person in their 50s, one person in their 70s, one person in their 80s, and one 90 or older. Their deaths raise New Brunswick's pandemic death toll to 476.

Twenty-three people were admitted to hospital because of the virus last week, compared to 35 the week before.

The number of active hospitalizations has also decreased to 35, from 37, according to the province. Four people required intensive care last week, up from two the previous week.

Meanwhile, the province's two regional health authorities, which include in their weekly reports people admitted to hospital because of COVID-19 as well as those initially admitted for another reason and later test positive for the virus, say there are 81 New Brunswickers hospitalized either for or with COVID-19, 12 of whom required intensive care.

'Watching the situation closely'

Dr. Arifur Rahman, who is the current acting deputy chief medical officer of health, described the situation as "stable."

"I mean, these are minor fluctuations from week to week. We cannot talk about any trend yet," he said.

But Public Health is "watching the situation closely," Rahman said, noting school has resumed, along with many community activities.

Asked whether Public Health anticipates increases once students have been back in classrooms for a couple of weeks, Rahman said it's difficult to predict. He said it depends on several factors, such as whether people are following Public Health measures.

Although there are no more mandatory measures, such as masking, physical distancing or isolation, he said there are still healthy habits such as proper handwashing, covering your nose and mouth to sneeze or cough, and staying home if you're sick until your symptoms are gone or you're fever-free for 24 hours.

"If someone wants to wear a mask, definitely, that's OK and they're welcome to do that," he added.

"We always encourage people to assess their own personal risk and to take measures to lower that risk."

The highest portion of hospitalizations for COVID-19 is among people aged 70 to 89, according to the province.

"Individuals that are unprotected by vaccine continue to have the highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 and ICU admissions," the COVIDWatch report states.

There were 575 new cases of COVID confirmed through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, down from 589.

Another 380 cases were self-reported by people who tested positive on rapid tests, compared to 586 a week ago.

That puts the total number of new cases at 955, down from 1,175.

Of the most recent random samples sent for sequencing, 98 per cent were the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5, one per cent were the Omicron subvariant BA.4, and the other one per cent were Omicron subvariant BA.2.

Bivalent vaccine coming 'very soon'

The province is finalizing its plans for the roll out of Moderna's updated COVID-19 vaccine, targeting the Omicron variant, said Rahman.

"It will be very soon," he said.

Health Canada approved the so-called bivalent vaccine earlier this month for people age 18 and older.

The vaccine targets both the original coronavirus and the Omicron variant BA.1 that emerged late last year and drove the largest wave of infection and hospitalization in the pandemic. It shows "significantly higher responses" to the Omicron BA.1 virus in comparison to Moderna's original coronavirus vaccine, officially branded as Spikevax, Health Canada has said.

In Quebec, people have been able to get the bivalent vaccine for nearly a week. Other provinces, such as Saskatchewan and Manitoba, have also started offering the vaccine to certain groups.

As of Tuesday, 90.5 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 85.4 per cent have received their second dose, 53.6 per cent have received their third dose, also known as a first booster, and 20.9 per cent have received a fourth dose, or second booster, Rahman said.

The Department of Health did not respond to a request to provide a breakdown by ages.

Last week, the province announced children between the ages of five and 11 are now eligible to receive their first booster dose, as long as five months have passed since their previous dose or the date of COVID-19 infection, whichever is most recent.

New Brunswick has had 76,316 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, with 74,997 of those now considered resolved.

Horizon and Vitalité

The Horizon Health Network has 57 active admissions, and six people in intensive care, as of Saturday, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. That compares to 55 and zero respectively the previous week.

The Vitalité Health Network reports 24 patients hospitalized, down from 28, with six in intensive care, up from three the previous week.

Horizon reports COVID-19 outbreaks on 10 hospital units, including four in the Moncton region, Zone 1, three in the Saint John region, Zone 2, two in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, and one in the Miramichi region, Zone 7. No other details are provided.

Vitalité has outbreaks at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton on the medicine and step-down unit (4C) and geriatric unit (3A); at the Stella-Maris-de-Kent Hospital in Sainte-Anne-de-Kent on the care unit; and at the Edmundston Regional Hospital's medical unit, the dashboard shows.

Horizon has 76 staff members off work because they tested positive for COVID, while Vitalité has 71 positive health-care workers off the job.