COVID-19 is "not over in hospitals," says the president and CEO of the Vitalité Health Network.

Dr. France Desrosiers made the comments during an update to the board of directors Tuesday.

New Brunswick lifted all of its COVID-19 restrictions Monday, but Vitalité remains at the red alert level due to the number of hospitalizations and absent health-care workers, Desrosiers said during the public meeting.

"The number of hospitalizations has remained stable I would say over the last month. The number of absenteeism is also stable, but it is still present.

"So as soon as we are able to resume service, we resume it. Sometimes, we have to revise downwards and we go back up as soon as possible again."

As of Saturday, the most recent figures available, there were 99 people with COVID-19 hospitalized across both the Vitalité and Horizon health networks, down from 103 on Friday, including three people aged 19 or under.

Thirteen people required intensive care, down from 14, and seven of them were on ventilators, unchanged.

Of those in hospital, 46 were admitted for COVID-19, and 53 were initially admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus. Of the 13 in an ICU, 11 are "for COVID" patients.

The seven-day average of COVID-related hospitalizations increased to 98 Saturday, from 96, while the seven-day average of COVID-related ICU bed occupancies was 13, up from 12.

There were 513 health-care workers off Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19, down from 577. That includes 154 from Vitalité, 300 from Horizon and 59 from Extra-Mural and Ambulance New Brunswick.

As of last Thursday, another 76 Vitalité health-care workers were isolating because they had been a close contact of a positive case.

Hospital capacity provincewide was listed at 90 per cent, up from 89 per cent on Friday, while ICU occupancy decreased to 71 per cent, from 77 per cent.

Vitalité and Horizon both announced last week that their hospitals and health-care facilities would remain at the red level, despite the province lifting all mandatory measures in the community.

Vitalité is adjusting on a daily basis and services are gradually resuming, said Desrosiers.

But she noted the regional health authority recorded an operating deficit of $24 million for the first nine months of the fiscal year, largely due to additional expenses related to the pandemic.

Desrosiers highlighted the challenges faced by human resources.

"The network took into account that a significant number of health-care workers had to be taken off the job due to the virus at one time or another. The quick and efficient redeployment of resources has made it possible to provide essential services and to cope with the rapid increase in the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19," she said.

Pandemic-related costs between April 1 and Dec. 31, 2021, totalled $26.2 million, the board heard.

"Through careful and responsible management of the pandemic's fifth wave, we have emerged from this crisis with the sense that we did what needed to be done," Desrosiers said in a statement.

Blood test and radiography services are almost completely restored, with some backlog to be cleared up.

Surgical services vary "from 75 to 80 per cent" of normal capacity, depending on the location, said Desrosiers.

"Sometimes there are areas that are 100 per cent, others are 50 per cent. It really varies on a daily basis," she said.

The province has passed the peak of the Omicron variant, according to Dr. Jennifer Russell, the province's chief medical officer of health.

"Yes, we do have a continued level of hospitalizations, but we're managing," she told CBC on Monday.

With the lifting of restrictions, some increases in hospitalizations and cases are expected, said Russell.

But they won't be overwhelming, she said, citing modelling, which has not been made public.