N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 4 COVID-related deaths, hospitalizations reach record-high 165
3 people 19 or under among those hospitalized
But because of the way the province releases data now, it's unclear whether the people died from COVID or just had COVID when they died — only that their deaths were "COVID-related."
And of those in hospital, only 67 are hospitalized for COVID-19, while the other 98 are hospitalized with COVID, meaning they were admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus — although the condition they were hospitalized for could have been exacerbated by their previously undiagnosed COVID.
Patients hospitalized with COVID are included in the overall total because they may develop acute or severe symptoms of COVID-19 during their hospital stay, and the increase in resources needed to take care of these patients, such as additional personal protective equipment and dedicated wings, adds "strain to the hospital system which cannot be discounted," said Department of Health spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane.
No information about whether they tested positive upon admission or following their admission is provided. If they test positive after admission, "it does not necessarily indicate that this infection was acquired within hospital," said Macfarlane.
"Individuals may have been admitted carrying COVID-19 asymptomatically and developed symptoms post-admission, which led to testing."
19 deaths since return to Level 2 Saturday
The latest deaths include two people in their 70s and one in their 80s in the Moncton region, Zone 1, and one person in their 70s in the Saint John region, Zone 2, according to the COVID-19 dashboard.
No other information about them, such as any underlying health conditions or their vaccination status, has been released.
Their deaths mark 19 since the province returned to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan on the weekend and raise the pandemic death toll to 247.
Three of the hospitalized people are 19 or under, a new category added to the COVID dashboard on Tuesday shows, and 121 are aged 60 or over.
Sixteen people are in intensive care — two in their 30s, two in their 40s, one in their 50s, three in their 60s, six in their 70s, and two in their 80s.
Five of them are on ventilators, a decrease of two.
The seven-day average of hospitalizations increased to 154, from 150, while the seven-day average of ICU admissions increased to 14, from 13.
Last Thursday, Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said officials expected hospitalizations to peak at "about 150" in mid-February.
Across the province, 417 health-care workers are off work after testing positive for COVID, including 183 from the Horizon Health Network, 142 from the Vitalité Health Network and 92 from Extra-Mural/Ambulance New Brunswick.
Hospital occupancy is listed at 88 per cent, while ICU capacity sits at 77 per cent, according to the dashboard.
The 165 people in hospital include 16 in intensive care, five of whom are on ventilators. (CBC)
There were 381 new cases of COVID-19 reported, based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, putting the total active case count at 4,371.
An additional 521 people self-reported testing positive at home with rapid tests.
The regional breakdown of PCR-confirmed cases includes:
Moncton region, Zone 1
-
181 new cases and 1,640 active cases
Saint John region, Zone 2
-
48 new cases and 1,008 active cases
Fredericton region, Zone 3
-
25 new cases and 472 active cases
Edmundston region, Zone 4
-
43 new cases and 400 active cases
Campbellton region, Zone 5
-
12 new cases and 204 active cases
Bathurst region, Zone 5
-
45 new cases and 449 active cases
Miramichi region, Zone 7
-
27 cases and 198 active cases
A total of 692,601 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 1,992 on Tuesday.
New Brunswick has had 29,494 cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic with 24,874 recoveries so far.
Large nursing-home outbreaks continue
The head of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing Homes says fairly large COVID-19 outbreaks are ongoing at more than one of its member facilities.
Villa Providence in Shediac announced this week that 62 residents have tested positive — more than double the number from last week. And more than 40 of its employees are off isolating either because they tested positive or were a close contact of someone with the virus. That's more than half its staff.
Rocmaura Nursing Home in Saint John has been dealing with a similar situation, according to Michael Keating, the association's interim executive director.
But the outbreaks aren't hitting residents as hard as they did earlier in the pandemic, he said.
Michael
Keating, executive director of the New Brunswick Association of Nursing
Homes, says outbreaks aren't hitting residents as hard as they did
earlier in the pandemic. (Radio-Canada)
"More people are getting it, but we're not seeing the same results. Hopefully, that's because of vaccination and people taking proper measures to look after people who have been afflicted. But we've been very lucky this time in terms of the seriousness of the experience."
The big challenges, said Keating, are the staffing shortages that come with the outbreaks.
The homes are coping because dedicated employees are working extra hours, he said.
They've also received outside help from some licensed practical nurse students.
"After a period of time, they can perform what we refer to as 'resident care duties,' or what a registered attendant would be able to do," Keating said. "And if we did not have them coming out to help us, that would have really made things difficult."
Vaccine demand down to 'a trickle,' says head of pharmacists' group
The demand for COVID-19 vaccinations in the province has slowed down significantly, according to the head of the New Brunswick Pharmacists' Association.
Jake Reid says there's lots of capacity in the system, but filling all the available appointments in vaccination clinics right now is a challenge.
Only about 3,000 people got their shots on Monday, the province's dashboard shows.
"That's a very, very low number," said Reid.
Jake
Reid, executive director of the New Brunswick Pharmacists' Association,
says having the new central online booking system for pharmacies might
help boost vaccination rates. (Submitted by Jake Reid)
He estimates the province can accommodate more than 10,000 shots a day between the Horizon and Vitalité health network clinics and the pharmacy clinics.
"So we're really seeing a bit of a trickle right now. Very few first doses and second doses, you know, a few hundred sort of. But booster doses, where we really expected to see more people, there's lots of people that should be still getting their booster doses, and the demand is slow."
Department of Health officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
As of Wednesday, 44.7 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have had their booster shot, up from 44.3 per cent, 84.7 per cent have received two doses of a vaccine, up from 84.5 per cent, and 92.2 per cent have received one dose, up from 92.1 per cent, according to the dashboard.
As of Wednesday, 44.7 per cent of eligible New Brunswickers have received their booster dose. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Reid says it's "surprising" that there's still "a majority" of people who could receive their booster dose, who haven't.
"When we were getting our first doses, the demand was incredible. And then we saw when we went to second doses that that started to peter off a little bit. We didn't see the same escalation of demand for second dose. And we still don't," he said, noting there's an eight per cent gap between people who received their first dose and second dose.
"So that really fell off and then booster, it fell off even more."
The demand for pediatric doses is also much lower than expected, said Reid.
Public Health officials were hopeful before Christmas that first doses would be administered to 50 per cent of children aged five to 11 by the end of 2021. That threshold was reached just a couple weeks ago. As of Wednesday, the rate stands at 56.8 per cent.
A new online booking system for pharmacies might encourage more people to book appointments, he said. Many pharmacies have signed onto a central system.
With files from Shift and Information Morning Moncton
Now is the winter of our discontent brought on by legions of politicians and bureaucratic minions after 2 long years of illegal lock-down mandates for the benefit of the wealthy few.
Methinks everybody should enjoy a little Deja Vu on Ground Hog Day until we make things right N'esy Pas?
Groundhog Day is the classic film we now live every single day
Writer Megan Garber says the romantic comedy was a horror movie all along
CBC Radio · Posted: Jan 29, 2021 8:10 PM ET
"When Groundhog Day was released in 1993, the premise of the comedy film seemed completely implausible. It was the stuff of fiction. But then came 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic, and suddenly the film seemed a little more relatable and realistic."
N.B. COVID-19 roundup: 5 more deaths, 63 anglophone schools report cases 1st day back
Hospitalizations increase to 162 from 152
The latest deaths include a person 90 or over in the Moncton region, Zone 1, and two people in their 70s and two people in their 80s in the Saint John region, Zone 2.
The number of people in hospital jumped by 10 to 162. Sixty-seven of them are hospitalized for COVID-19 and the other 95 with COVID, meaning they were already admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.
Of those in hospital, three are 19 or under, a new category on the COVID dashboard shows, and 124 are aged 60 or over.
Seventeen people are in intensive care, all but one of them for COVID, and seven of them are on ventilators, unchanged.
The province added a new category to its COVID-19 dashboard
Tuesday, hospitalizations by age group. (Government of New Brunswick)
The seven-day average of hospitalizations increased to 150, from 147, while the seven-day average of ICU admissions increased to 13, from 12.
There were 228 new cases of COVID-19 reported, based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, putting the total active case count at 4,408.
An additional 603 people self-reported testing positive at home with rapid tests.
A total of 690,609 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 2,117 on Monday.
The
percentage of eligible New Brunswickers who have received a COVID-19
booster dose increased Tuesday to 44.3 per cent, from 44 per cent. (CBC)
The regional breakdown of PCR-confirmed cases includes:
Moncton region, Zone 1
- 74 new cases and 1,581 active cases
Saint John region, Zone 2
- 56 new cases and 1,067 active cases
Fredericton region, Zone 3
- 41 new cases and 503 active cases
Edmundston region, Zone 4
- 23 new cases and 397 active cases
Campbellton region, Zone 5
- Seven new cases and 213 active cases
Bathurst region, Zone 5
- 15 new cases and 456 active cases
Miramichi region, Zone 7
- 12 cases and 191 active cases
As of Tuesday, 44.3 per cent of eligible New Brunswick have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, up from 44 per cent, 84.5 per cent have received two doses of a vaccine, unchanged, and 92.1 per cent have received one dose, also unchanged.
New Brunswick has had 29,113 cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic with 24,460 recoveries so far.
COVID in schools
One day after New Brunswick students resumed in-person learning, 63 public schools in the anglophone districts each have at least one reported case of COVID-19.
In the francophone districts, COVID exposure advisories are in effect at 60 schools, although when they were reported is not indicated.
Monday was the first time most students were back in classrooms since the holiday break. They've been learning online at home since Jan. 11.
Anglophone South School District says the cases at 17 of its schools include reports from last weekend.
Anglophone North School District also lumps Monday reports in with the weekend, for a total of nine schools.
But the 24 affected schools at Anglophone West and 13 schools at Anglophone East are all from Monday, according to their dashboards.
Among
some of the COVID-19 measures in place, all students must wear a mask
both indoors and outdoors, except K-8 students if they are outdoors and
within their class grouping. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)
District scolaire francophone Nord-Ouest lists 15 schools with reported cases, District scolaire francophone Nord-Est lists 21 schools and District scolaire francophone Sud, 29 schools.
"An exposure advisory remains in effect if there has been at least one positive case reported in the last 10 days," the south district's website states in French.
The Department of Education's daily summary website of COVID-19 impacts on schools across the province hasn't been updated since Dec. 22. "Regular updates will resume when in-person learning resumes," it states.
"The COVID-19 summary is expected to be updated soon," department spokesperson Flavio Nienow said in an email Tuesday afternoon.
As of Dec. 22, 897 cases of COVID had been confirmed in 193 schools since Sept. 7.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said last week there would be "risks" with the return to school, but she was confident those risks were "manageable."
Among some of the measures in place:
- Classrooms bubbles for students in kindergarten to Grade 8
- Universal indoor masking, except when eating or drinking, for staff, students at all grade levels
- Outdoors, K-8 students not required to wear a mask if they're within their bubble
- Limited use of wind instruments and singing
- Vaccination requirements for those 12 or older for extracurricular activities, sports and clubs
- KN95-grade masks or higher will be provided for teachers and staff
- Well-fitting, three-layer masks are recommended for students
- Families are responsible for notifying schools if their child tests positive
Public Health used to notify schools of positive cases, conduct contact tracing and notify close contacts, while schools or school districts used to notify families of positive cases.
Now, each school district now has its own COVID dashboard, where they list schools that have at least one reported COVID case daily. It's up to families to check the lists.
MPs weigh in on Ottawa protest
New Brunswick MPs are weighing in on the ongoing protest in Ottawa against COVID-19 rules.
Convoys of thousands of people from across the country arrived in the national capital Friday and demonstrations have taken over much of the city's downtown core since then.
Fredericton Liberal MP Jenica Atwin says the large number of participants can't be ignored, but neither can the hateful messages some people are sending.
"I don't think the government can just back down. I think that would send a bad precedent, you know, to Canadians who say that if you do actions like this, that your demands are going to be met," she said.
"I also understand as well how important it is to be vaccinated and … in the U.S. border, you're going to still be met with that restriction, so it doesn't really make a lot of sense at this point either. And again, with the sheer numbers of vaccinated Canadians, most of us have done this for our collective well-being."
Fredericton
MP Jenica Atwin says tensions have been stoked by partisan politics,
extremist propaganda and anti-vaccine misinformation. (Zoom)
Conservative MP for New Brunswick Southwest John Williamson posted a statement of support for the protesters on Facebook.
He says they represent growing opposition to Liberal restrictions on Canadians and he agrees it's time to end lockdown measures.
Instead of limiting travel and shutting down schools and businesses, Williamson contends the government should focus on fixing the health-care system.
Conservative MP Jake Stewart of Miramichi-Grand Lake says he attended the protest and met a wide cross-section of Canadians.
He says the vast majority said they were vaccinated and were there because of concerns their freedoms are at stake.
Quebec scraps planned tax on unvaccinated
Quebec Premier François Legault has scrapped his controversial plan for a health tax for the unvaccinated, in order to protect "social cohesion" in the province.
The tax, announced by Legault last month as a "health contribution," would have imposed a monetary penalty on adults who refused to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine for non-medical reasons.
"I understand that this divides Quebecers and right now we have to build bridges," he announced Tuesday.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to make life "increasingly uncomfortable" for those who choose to be unvaccinated and as of last Thursday, a health tax was one of the ideas still under review.
"We still have a report coming forward to understand the impact that those will have and analyzing what others are doing," he told reporters during the COVID briefing.
"There's been lots of discussion about whether the health tax will have an impact or not, or whether it's even being able to be put in place."
Premier
Blaine Higgs has said 'everything is on the table' as the province
looks for ways to make life 'uncomfortable' for the unvaccinated. (Government of New Brunswick/YouTube)
Last month, Higgs said a health tax would be complicated.
"We have to look at that in the context of our public health system. And where does that stop?"
He questioned, for example, if someone who doesn't take care of their health as well as others, or isn't as healthy, would also warrant an additional fee.
During Thursday's briefing, Higgs said the return to the less restrictive Level 2 would serve as "a positive reinforcement" for those who have been vaccinated.
"So the more we can open up and in areas that require vaccinated people, the same impact [as cracking down on the unvaccinated] can be had," he said.
"If we have to go further, I mean, those items are still being identified and listed and understanding what the impact is to do that."
Higgs reiterated that "everything is on the table for consideration."
Another idea being explored is requiring proof of COVID-19 vaccination at liquor and cannabis stores.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
Two Police Associations now involved.
Content deactivated
What does vary, is politics.
that very well may be true . also up is the number of unvaxed in critical care and on the tube at 70-80%, accounting for the really spectacular drop in the numbers of those requiring just about any level of any other medical attention.
Methinks everybody must have had enough of the lefty turncoat Cardy hogging the limelight and the butter tarts too N'esy Pas?
Ah yes The Plan. The Winter Plan.
Too funny.
There never was a Plan
$2.5 Billion was asked for in The House yesterday by the PM for tests.
"I hear online audio mentioning VPN and encryption.
Now why would Truckers in Ottawa being broadcasting such?"
I still have not determined why some were speaking of such.
N.B. COVID-19 roundup: Person in their 20s one of 5 new deaths, students back in classroom
Hospitalizations decrease to 152 from 164
The return to classes coincides with the province's return Friday at 11:59 p.m. to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan.
"School is the best place for kids physically and mentally," Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said during a recent COVID briefing.
"There are risks in the return to school, but I'm confident those risks are manageable," she said.
Among some of the measures in place:
- Classrooms bubbles for students in kindergarten to Grade 8
- Universal indoor masking, except when eating or drinking, for staff, students at all grade levels
- Outdoors, K-8 students not required to wear a mask if they're within their bubble
- Limited use of wind instruments and singing
- Vaccination requirements for those 12 or older for extracurricular activities, sports and clubs
- KN95-grade masks or higher will be provided for teachers and staff
- Well-fitting, three-layer masks are recommended for students
- Families are responsible for notifying schools if their child tests positive
Most students have been learning online at home since Jan. 11, which was initially expected to continue until Jan. 21.
When the province moved to Level 3, the most restrictive level, of the winter plan, amid soaring COVID cases and hospitalizations, students' return to schools was pushed back until Monday.
Some students with special needs attended school in-person in recent weeks, however, due to their need for extra supports.
As of Dec. 22, the latest provincial figures available from the Department of Education, 897 cases of COVID had been confirmed in 193 schools since Sept. 7.
Although Public Health used to notify schools of positive cases, conduct contact tracing and notify close contacts, while schools or school districts used to notify families of positive cases, each school district now has its own COVID dashboard, where they list schools that have at least one reported COVID case daily. It's up to families to check the lists.
Deaths, hospitalizations
The five COVID-related deaths recorded Monday include a person in their 80s in the Moncton region, Zone 1, a person in their 20s in the Saint John region, Zone 2, a person in their 80s in the Fredericton region, Zone 3, a person in their 70s in the Edmundston region, Zone 4, and a person in their 70s in the Bathurst region, Zone 6, according to the COVID dashboard.
Department of Health officials did not immediately respond to a request for more information about the youngest person, including their exact age, whether they had any underlying health conditions, their vaccination status, or what type of COVID variant they had.
Last April, a person in their their 20s from the Moncton region, Zone 1, died, becoming the youngest person in the province to die from the disease since the pandemic began.
Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, declined to say at the time whether the person had any underlying medical conditions, citing privacy. But she did say she believed the person had the variant first reported in the U.K. and that the case was travel-related.
The latest deaths raise the pandemic death toll to 238.
The
number of COVID hospitalizations decreased by 12 Monday, but the number
of people in intensive care increased by three and the number of people
on ventilators by two. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
The number of people hospitalized decreased by 12 to 152 — 68 of them for COVID and the other 84 with COVID, meaning they were already admitted for something else when they tested positive for the virus.
Last Thursday, Russell said officials expected hospitalizations to peak at about 150 in mid-February.
This was part of explanation for the province's return to the less restrictive Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan two days earlier than expected. Previous projections showed hospitalizations were expected to reach nearly 220.
Department of Health officials could not immediately be reached Monday for comment.
Sixteen people are in intensive care, an increase of three. Seven of them are on ventilators, up two.
The seven-day average of hospitalizations jumped to 147, from 144, while the seven-day average of ICU admissions remained stable at 12, the dashboard shows.
The dashboard does not indicate the ages of those hospitalized. Public Health used to indicate in a news releases how many of the cases were 19 or under and how many were 60 or over, but it has stopped providing the releases, just as students resume in-person learning.
There were 169 new cases of COVID-19 reported, based on PCR (polymerase chain reaction) lab tests, putting the total active case count at 4,841.
An additional 517 people self-reported testing positive at home with rapid tests.
A total of 688,492 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 631 on Sunday.
A total of 44 per cent of eligible New Brunswick have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose, up from 43.3 per cent, 84.5 per cent have received two doses of a vaccine, up from 84.4 per cent, and 92.1 per cent have received one dose, unchanged.
New Brunswick has had 28,885 cases of COVID since the beginning of the pandemic with 23,804 recoveries so far.
No sign of new subvariant
There's no sign the new Omicron subvariant BA.2 is in the province, according to the Department of Health.
"To date, this strain has not yet been identified in New Brunswick," department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said Monday.
BA.2 is now spreading in more than 50 countries around the world, including Canada.
Last Friday, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief medical health officer, said more than 100 cases of BA.2 have been detected in Canada since November, with about 77 of those identifications coming from the National Microbiology Laboratory, and the rest from provinces and territories.
Although Tam said the country's overall Omicron wave appears to be peaking, there's "always a possibility" this wave could wind up extended.
Danish scientists recently reported there's no difference in hospitalizations when compared with BA.1, and vaccines are expected to continue offering protection against severe illness — though early data does show that BA.2 may be more than 1.5 times more transmissible.
The U.K. Health Security Agency said Friday BA.2 has a doubling time of roughly four days and scientists believe it will become the country's dominant strain within the next month.
Asked whether provincial officials believe the subvariant is present even though it hasn't been detected yet, Macfarlane replied: "Current laboratory surveillance does not indicate that BA.2 is currently in New Brunswick."
Now why would Truckers in Ottawa being broadcasting such?
Anyone know what that is all about?
Defund the CBC!
Dieppe woman wonders why hospital-bound husband can't get a booster
Public Health says it's the health authority's responsibility
But O'Connell's husband has been at the Dr. Georges-L.-Dumont University Hospital Centre in Moncton since mid-November, and he has yet to get his booster — despite repeated requests.
O'Connell said she phoned the hospital at least four times and spoke to someone different each time. She also called Public Health, has spoken to her MLA, and sent an email to Health Minister Dorothy Shephard.
"I have called time after time to the hospital and apparently their hands are tied. They have no say on it," said O'Connell.
"It's just shocking to me."
After hearing so much about outbreaks in hospitals and people catching COVID-19 while in hospital, O'Connell is concerned about her 73-year-old husband catching it.
Marti
and Jerry O'Connell on a trip to Cuba in 2018. Jerry had his second
booster shot in July but hasn't been able to get a booster since being
admitted to hospital. (Submitted by Marti O'Connell)
"He's a vulnerable senior. I mean, all they do is go on and on and on and on in the news about how vulnerable our seniors are. And to see this happening … it's just outrageous."
Jerry O'Connell has Alzheimer's disease. He started living at a nursing home last year but was sent to hospital after a series of falls. He's been waiting ever since for a spot at a nursing home that can handle his cognitive needs and his limited mobility issues, his wife explained.
Since he isn't able to advocate for himself, Marti O'Connell has been trying to do it for him — and all the while, COVID cases in hospitals have soared. That's why she's trying so hard to get him a booster.
"I mean, how hard is it for someone in a hospital to give a needle?"
There's a nurse for that
In an email on Friday, Health Department spokesperson Bruce Macfarlane said, "Although we cannot talk about specific cases, the regional health authorities have been asked to ensure that all patients in hospital that are awaiting a nursing home bed should be offered a booster-third dose once 5 months has passed since their second dose was administered."
When asked if the shot would be given in the hospital, Macfarlane said it would.
When an extended care patient in hospital is due for their vaccine, he said, a [in hospital] is due for their vaccine, a
"public health information solution" nurse is assigned to administer the vaccine, he said.
O'Connell said no one has ever mentioned such a nursing position and she intends to inquire about it on Monday.
Her husband had his second vaccine dose on July 7.
A spokesperson for the Vitalité Health Network deferred to the Health Department when asked about the booster delay.
"As your question was related to Public Health, Bruce Macfarlane from the Department of Health sent you a response," wrote Thomas Lizotte on Friday.
He did not respond to followup questions by publication time.
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