N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 4 more COVID-related deaths, hospitalizations remain at record-high 165

New Brunswick recorded four more COVID-related deaths Thursday, and the number of people in hospital with the virus remains at a record-high 165.

Twenty-three people have died since the province returned to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan last Friday at 11:59 p.m.

The latest deaths include a person in their 70s in the Saint John region, Zone 2, two people 90 or over in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, and a person 90 or over in the Bathurst region, Zone 6, the COVID-19 dashboard shows.

Of those in hospital, 68 are hospitalized for COVID-19, while the other 97 are hospitalized with COVID, meaning they were admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.

The number of people in intensive care has dropped by two, to 14, with all but one of them hospitalized for COVID. Six of them are on ventilators, an increase of one.

Five of the people hospitalized are 19 or under. Of those in ICU, one is in their 30s, two are in their 40s, three in their 60s, six in their 70s, and two in their 80s.

The seven-day average of hospitalizations has increased to 157 from 154, while the seven-day average of ICU admissions has increased by one, to 15.

There are now 392 health-care workers off work after testing positive for COVID, 25 fewer than on Wednesday. That includes 175 from the Horizon Health Network, 136 from the Vitalité Health Network and 81 from Extra-Mural/Ambulance New Brunswick.

Hospital occupancy is still listed at 88 per cent, while ICU capacity jumped to 88 per cent, from 77 per cent, according to the dashboard.

Based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, 411 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, including 25 people aged 19 or under. The total active case count now stands at 4,012.

An additional 485 people self-reported testing positive at home with rapid tests.

The regional breakdown of PCR-confirmed cases includes:

Moncton region,  Zone 1

•  108 new cases and 1,368 active cases

Saint John region, Zone 2

• 103 new cases and 924 active cases

Fredericton region, Zone 3

• 85 new cases and 502 active cases

Edmundston region, Zone 4

• 45 new cases and 403 active cases

Campbellton region, Zone 5

• 17 new cases and 199 active cases

Bathurst region, Zone 5

• 39 new cases and 425 active cases

Miramichi region, Zone 7

• 14 cases and 191 active cases

As of Thursday, 45.2 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have had their booster shot, up from 44.7 per cent, 84.8 per cent had received two doses of a vaccine, up from 84.7 per cent, and 92.2 per cent had received one dose, unchanged, according to the dashboard.

Since Dec. 1, 40 per cent of the people whose deaths were listed as COVID-related were "protected," meaning they were boosted or fully vaccinated for less than six months, while 60 per cent had "partial or no protection," meaning they were fully vaccinated more than six months, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated.

Among hospitalized cases during that period, 36.63 per cent were protected and 63.37 per cent had partial or no protection, while ICU admissions saw 26.12 per cent protected and 73.88 per cent with partial or no protection.

Among those on a ventilator, 18.97 per cent were protected and 81.03 per cent had partial or no protection.

A total of 694,753 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 2,152 on Wednesday.

New Brunswick has had 29,905 cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic with 25,640 recoveries so far and 251 COVID-related deaths.

Fewer than 10 people prescribed new COVID pill 

Fewer than 10 New Brunswickers have been prescribed Pfizer's new COVID-19 pill so far, says the Department of Health.

The at-home antiviral treatment, approved by Health Canada Jan. 17, is designed to treat adults with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk of progressing to serious disease, including hospitalization or death.

New Brunswick has received its first shipment of 700 treatment courses last month.

"Presently, based on the initial screening by Public Health, approximately 140 individuals have been called to further determine eligibility and gain consent and 20 have been forwarded on for further evaluation by a centralized clinical team for appropriateness of medication with less than 10 Paxlovid prescribed," said department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane.

"Because of the limited supply, it will only be provided to individuals who are among the Public Health priority groups and meet the eligibility requirements for the time being," he said in an emailed statement.

Health Minister Dorothy Shephard has previously described the province's initial allocation from the federal government as a "good start."

"But with the number of cases that are escalating, it's kind of like spitting on a house fire," she said.

The first shipment will be used for people 80 years or older and people who are immunocompromised "for the most part," Shephard said.

The treatment, hailed by some doctors as a pandemic "game changer" that could relieve some of the pressure on the health-care system, consists of two tablets of nirmatrelvir and one tablet of ritonavir taken together by mouth twice per day for five days.

It is intended for use as soon as possible after diagnosis of COVID-19 and within five days of the start of symptoms, Health Canada has said.

"The introduction of the antiviral is good news, but it is not going to make Omicron go away," said Macfarlane. "The best defence against Omicron is vaccination, and we urge everyone to ensure they get their booster dose as soon as possible."

Nurses are not OK, union says in new campaign

The New Brunswick Nurses Union says its members are suffering and need support. It has launched a social media campaign — Nurses' Mental Health Matters — to highlight the stress of those working on the COVID-19 pandemic front lines.

Union president Paula Doucet says more than 4,000 members shared their feelings in a recent survey.

Some describe feeling like they're trying to tread water and drowning, she said. Others say they feel paralyzed watching the health system crumble around them, and their families are suffering.

They say they're stretched to the limit.

"Nurses were going to work knowing that they would be working short, knowing that they would have to work the extra overtime hours and in many cases, facing moral and ethical dilemmas when it came to care of their patients, their residents or clients, regardless of which domain they worked in," said Doucet.

"Whether acute care, long-term care or within Public Health, nurses are always trying to do their absolute best, and every day they were pushed beyond those limits of trying to provide the best care possible."

Doucet said nursing shortages were already a problem before the pandemic hit, and now the situation is worse for the union's members, who include registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse practitioners.

"You know, nurses put their patients, clients and residents first, sometimes at their own detriment. It's only after the fact that our bodies and our mental health suffer."

She says a number of things could make a difference, including making nursing courses easier to access and creating more seats at nursing programs.

Jails short-staffed because of outbreaks, says union

The president of the union representing New Brunswick correctional officers says jails are short-staffed because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Chris Curran's comment follows the death of an inmate from the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre Sunday.

Skyler Sappier, 28, a member of the Neqotkuk First Nation, formerly known as Tobique First Nation, was sick with COVID, according to his family. A coroner's inquest has been ordered into his death.

Curran, the president of CUPE Local 1251, which includes correctional officers, says every correctional centre in the province, except Miramichi, has had COVID outbreaks and staff are exhausted.

At one point recently, about 40 per cent of members were off sick, he said.

"Any time you're running short-staffed, it's a safety risk for sure. The clientele will be secured more ... so that they won't have as much freedom on the units. They'll be in their cells more, which elevates their agitation level, which makes them prone to become more violent.

"So running short-staffed is always — whether it's COVID or it's not COVID — if you're short-staffed, it's always a dangerous situation."

Last Friday, the union signed a "mobility agreement" that would see sheriff's officers brought in to help with some of the workload, Curran said.

"So those sheriff's officers will be helping with court escorts within the institution, court security for the video courts that goes on within the institutions, and possibly, if there's a hospital escort, or off-grounds escort that needs to be done, could be done by a sheriff's officer," he said.

Horizon cancels 3 clinics, closes test pickup sites because of storm

COVID-19 vaccination clinics scheduled for Fredericton, Saint John and St. Stephen on Friday have been cancelled because of the snowstorm in the forecast, the Horizon Health Network announced Thursday afternoon on social media.

The clinics were slated to be held at Brookside Mall, Exhibition Park and the Garcelon Civic Centre respectively.

"It's going to be bad out there," the regional health authority posted on Twitter.

People who had an appointment scheduled will receive a call to rebook, according to the tweet.

To see a full list of upcoming clinics, people are encouraged to go online.

Horizon's rapid test mobile and hub pickup sites will also be closed Friday, because of the storm, Horizon said.

Anyone with a scheduled appointment will be notified via email of the changes, according to a tweet.

All appointments will be rescheduled, it said.