New Brunswick is reporting seven new COVID-19-related deaths in its weekly report Tuesday.
However, the province says one of the deaths reported Tuesday happened prior to Aug. 28.
On Friday, the province updated its number of COVID-19 deaths. Tuesday's report says deaths are subject to a lag in reporting, with an average of a two-month lag from the date of death to the registration of death.
With the update in deaths, the province is now reporting a total 722 COVID-19-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
The data in Tuesday’s report covers Dec. 11 to Dec. 17.
HOSPITALIZATIONS
The number of new hospital admissions for COVID-19 has increased slightly, from 29 to 31 this week.
As of Saturday, three new people were admitted into intensive care.
The province's report says, since Aug. 28, the rate of hospitalizations is highest among people aged 70 years and older.
NEW CASES
The number of new PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases decreased this week, compared to last.
The province reported 647 new cases in its weekly update, compared to 819 the week before.
According to the report, 5,560 tests were completed during the current reporting period.
The regional breakdown of the newest COVID-19 cases is as follows:
- Zone 1: 212
- Zone 2: 142
- Zone 3: 118
- Zone 4: 47
- Zone 5: 16
- Zone 6: 72
- Zone 7: 40
SELF-REPORTED RAPID TESTS
New Brunswick now provides the number of positive self-reported rapid tests in each reporting period.
Between Dec. 11 and Dec. 17, 334 rapid tests were reported to health officials.
The breakdown of those tests is as follows:
- Zone 1: 100
- Zone 2: 70
- Zone 3: 94
- Zone 4: 15
- Zone 5: 4
- Zone 6: 32
- Zone 7: 19
COVID-19 VARIANTS IN THE PROVINCE
Health officials in New Brunswick say a recent random sample that was sequenced between Nov. 26 and Dec. 11 shows that 95 per cent of positive cases were the BA.5 variant. Five per cent were the BA.4 variant, according to health officials.
The province says 168 specimens were used for the sample.
VACCINATIONS
As of Saturday, 90.8 per cent of people in New Brunswick had at least one dose of vaccine, 85.7 per cent had at least two doses, 54.4 per cent had one booster and 28.4 per cent had two boosters.
Health officials say following this week's update, the next COVID-19 update will not be provided until Jan. 4, 2023 and will include two weeks' worth of data.
