No new COVID-19 deaths as N.B. marks 4 years of pandemic – CBC.ca

New Brunswick

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Bobbi-Jean MacKinnon - CBC News

Posted: March 12, 2024 Last Updated: 11 Hours Ago

New Brunswick reported no newCOVID-19 deaths Tuesday, the four-year anniversary of the first confirmed case of the virusin the provinceand in Atlantic Canada.

The last time New Brunswick recorded no COVIDdeaths was six months ago, the week of Sept. 10, 2023.

No flu deaths occurred during the reporting week ofFeb. 25 toMarch 2 either, according to the Respiratory Watch report.

COVID activity remains "moderate," while influenza activity increased "slightly," it says, including a jump in flu hospitalizations, two of whom were aged five to 19.

Twenty peoplewerehospitalized because of COVID or for something else and later tested positive for the virus during the reporting week, down from 30 in the previous report. Nineteen of them wereaged 65 or older and the other was aged 45 to 64.

None required intensive care, unchanged.

Five COVID outbreaks were declared, all in nursing homes, compared to six outbreaks the previous week.

A total of 74 new cases of COVID were confirmed through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, with a positivity rate of six per cent. That's down from 80 and seven per cent, respectively.

There have been146,712COVID-19 vaccines administered since Oct. 4, the Department of Health says.

COVID-19 has killed at least 1,017 New Brunswickerssince the pandemic began in the province on March 12, 2020, with the first confirmed case.

The womanin her 50s, from southeastern New Brunswick, had returned from France, and was announced asa "presumptive," or probable case, the day before,just hours after the World Health Organization deemed the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic, infecting more than 100,000 people in more than 100 countries.

The actual provincial death tollis unclear because the Department of Health has counted only people who die in hospital as COVID deathssince September.

The flu sent 14 people to hospital between Feb. 25 andMarch 2, up from none in last week's report.

In addition to the two people under 19 admitted to hospital, there were four people aged 45 to 64 andeight people aged 65 or older, one of whom requiredintensive care.

One nursing home declared a lab-confirmed flu outbreak, up from none, and one school reported an "influenza-like illness" outbreak, down from two.

There were 120 new cases of the flu confirmed by labs, a nearly 35 per cent increase from the 89 cases in the previous report.

Of these,74 were influenza B, 38 were influenza A (unsubtyped) andeight were influenza A (H1N1 pdm09).

The positivity rate or the percentage of lab testsperformed that produced a positive result is 11 per cent, up from eight.

These latest cases raise the respiratory season total to 2,744 cases since Aug. 27, according to the report.

A total of 221,587 New Brunswickers have beenvaccinated for against the flu so far this season, figures from the Department of Health show.

CBC requested an interview withDr. Yves Lger, the province'sacting chief medical officer of health, but did not receive a response.

Horizon Health Network has 21 active COVID-19 hospitalizations, as of Saturday, up from 18 a week earlier, according to its COVIDdashboard. None of the patients are in ICU, down from two.

Eight Horizon health-care workers are off sick after testing positive for the virus, down from 10.

There are COVID outbreaks at two Horizon hospitals, as of Monday, its website shows. The Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital in Fredericton has outbreakson the orthopedics; ear, nose, throat, and plastics unit as well as the transitional care unit, whilethe Charlotte County Hospital in St. Stephen has an outbreak on the family medicine unit (Floor 1).

Vitalit Health Network updates its COVID-19 report only monthly, with the next report not expected untilMarch 26.

Its outbreaks page isupdated more frequently, but as of Tuesday evening, it hasn't been updated since March 5.

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No new COVID-19 deaths as N.B. marks 4 years of pandemic - CBC.ca