New Brunswick is “on track” to return to Level 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan through Jan. 31, as planned, Premier Blaine Higgs said Friday, as the province recorded two more COVID-related deaths.
The other two people who died were over eighty years old: one in Zone 2, Saint John region, and another in Zone 5, Campbellton region.
That marks 27 deaths in the past nine days, although Public Health recently said it no longer knows if the COVID deaths it reports are people who died from the virus or people who had the virus but died from something else.
There are now another 125 people hospitalized, totaling 73 for COVID-19, while 52 were admitted for other reasons and later tested positive, a new COVID dashboard homepage obviously indicates.
Fourteen other people are in intensive care (three for COVID and 11 for COVID), an increase of two since Thursday, and nine of them are still on ventilators.
The hospital occupancy rate across the province is 88 per cent, while the capacity of extensive care units is 90 per cent.
Last week, in the more restrictive Tier 3, contacts dropped by 30% and early indications are that hospitalizations are emerging at a slower rate, Higgs said at a COVID briefing.
The purpose of the 16-day lockdown is to relieve the pressure that’s building on the fitness formula and on more people, Higgs said. And it turns out it’s working.
“Now that may change,” he was quick to add.
“But right now, I’m pleased and excited to report that we’re on the right track, and that’s because we’re all part of the solution. “
Higgs noted that the number of cases will continue to rise and that “we have not yet reached the peak of our hospitalizations. “
“But in combination we’ve given our fitness formula a better chance of solving this problem,” he said.
The province moved to Level 3, the restrictive peak of the COVID plan, last Friday at 11:59 p. m.
About 450 health-care workers are off, having tested positive for COVID or isolating, Higgs said.
The dashboard shows 186 are with the Horizon Health Network, 182 are with the Vitalité Health Network and 82 are with Extra Mural/Ambulance New Brunswick.
Some fitness painters, however, have returned to work after their five-day isolation period, which he called a “positive sign. “
The Department of Social Development has emergency care beds for inpatients who are ultimately waiting to be placed in a long-term care home, Higgs said.
Some seniors have already been discharged from the hospital and others are expected to be transferred next week, he said.
And more than 3,000 people responded Tuesday to the province’s “urgent” call to recruit paid and unpaid volunteers for the clinical and non-clinical response to the pandemic.
Education officials are preparing to return to in-person learning on January 31, he said, and Minister Dominic Cardy will have more to say early next week about the steps being taken to make that happen, as well as the use of HEPA. Filters in schools.
“It’s exciting to see us combine once again,” Higgs said, noting that there is “very high” compliance with the rules.
He is “grateful” and “optimistic,” he said.
“We’ve been given nine days, we can do it. “
When asked if the province would have new models for hospitalizations and instances if the province moves to Level 2 on Jan. 31, Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief health officer, said it’s too early to tell.
“We need a few more data points on those curves to be able to really see what’s happening, and any of those projections are, you know, again, it’s a day-by-day issue right now,” she said.
“Once we move forward, we’ll have those knowledge issues so we can look at the projections and compare them to the projections we presented last week. “
Earlier this week, Higgs said in a statement that the government was “very committed” to meeting its timeline for returning to the less restrictive Tier 2 of the COVID-19 winter plan by January 30 at 11:59 p. m. CEST.
And he calls on New Brunswickers to “do what you can” to make this happen.
Russell suggested that everyone who is eligible get their booster or their first or second dose as soon as possible, especially those at higher risk of being hospitalized, adding those 50 and older.
It is the unvaccinated and the undervaccinated who are experiencing the worst of this wave, he said.
Two-thirds of ICU patients are unvaccinated, have received only one dose, or have received the booster dose to which they are entitled.
Callback rates are rising, Russell said. As of Friday, 36. 2 percent of eligible New Brunswickers had earned their booster shot. A week ago, that figure was 26. 5 percent, he said.
“We want to keep the momentum going. “
“Barely half” of children ages five to 11 — 53 percent — have received their first dose since they were eligible on Nov. 26, he said. About 25,600 eligible young people have yet to do so and progress has slowed in recent weeks.
Parents and guardians can now schedule appointments electronically for their children to receive their second dose, if it’s been at least eight weeks since their first dose, Russell said. “This will improve the coverage provided by the initial vaccine. “
The province’s COVID-19 dashboard has been “enhanced” to include a lot more important data and make it easier to find, Premier Blaine Higgs said Friday.
“We’ve worked hard to get the data presented in a way that’s available and easy to understand,” he said at the COVID briefing.
Although the province will continue to report case counts, rapid tests test results are self-reported, he said.
“Therefore, the true effect of COVID in New Brunswick cannot be the one that should be measured in terms of cases.
“Instead, as said before, we’re focusing on hospitalizations and their effects throughout our physical care system. “
A new landing page includes information on hospitalizations and ICU admissions, as well as how the numbers have advanced or worsened since the last report, Higgs said.
It shows the number of other people admitted to the hospital due to COVID-19 and those who were admitted for other reasons but later tested positive for COVID.
In addition, the dashboard provides the percentage of hospitalizations, ICU patients requiring a ventilator and deaths based on vaccination status since Dec. 1, just before the Omicron wave hit, said Higgs.
“As we know that vaccine efficacy decreases over time, this knowledge will fall into two categories: those who are fully vaccinated and those who are not. “
The new homepage also includes information showing the status of the fitness system, adding the number of positive and isolating workers, as well as overall hospital and ICU occupancy levels, he said.
The panel shows that 514 new COVID cases were shown through PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, bringing the number of active cases to 4,717. This figure does not include other people who were immediately tested and tested positive.
Another 780 people reported online that they tested positive on immediate tests.
A total of 669,012 PCR tests have been conducted to date, including 2,093 on Thursday. That puts the positivity rate at 24.6 per cent.
As of Friday, 36. 2 percent of eligible New Brunswickers had won a booster dose, up from 34. 9 percent, 83. 6 percent had won two doses, up from 83. 5 percent, and 91. 5 percent had won one dose. , up from 91. 4 percent on the COVID-19 dashboard.
New Brunswick has recorded 25,003 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with 20,083 recoveries to date and 201 COVID-related deaths.
There are outbreaks of COVID-19 in 47 long-term care homes across the province, with another 541 people infected, according to figures released late Thursday through the Department of Social Development.
One died, ministry spokesman Robert Duguay said.
Thirteen of the outbreaks are in nursing homes, while the remaining 34 are in special care homes, he said.
In nursing homes, 33 citizens and 60 members tested positive.
Recently, 279 citizens and 169 members have been involved in special care homes.
The names and locations of the facilities have not been released.
Earlier this week, CBC News reported that an outbreak at the Grand Manan nursing home had inflamed 23 of the 28 citizens and 26 staff members.
Provincial Rapid Outbreak Management Teams (PROMT) were deployed to 32 of the 34 outbreaks in special care homes, Duguay said.
PROMT is provided on-site in any of the nursing home outbreaks. Social Development “now deals with all epidemics in [nursing homes]. It’s new,” he said, without elaborating.
Asked Friday why Public Health is actively reporting on such outbreaks and how the government is responding to unions that say it has let the long-term care sector down, Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Anna Sullivan said. Jennifer Russell did not answer any of the questions directly.
With respect to protection from COVID-19, she said residents of the facilities would have been “first in line” for COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
Public Health is also working hard with Social Development and the regional fitness government to temporarily solve human resource problems and has put out a call for volunteers, he said.
“We’ve had outbreaks led through Social Development with respect to those facilities. But, in terms of our input from an attitude of public fitness and from an attitude of fitness, we, again, have been at the table all along in terms of recommendations and movements and their implementation.
Megan Mitton, MLA of Memramcook-Tantramar and a health critic of the Green Party, has been calling for months for the government to deal more with outbreaks in long-term care facilities.
About 563 provincial government workers are still on unpaid leave because they are vaccinated against COVID-19, Finance and Treasury Board spokeswoman Erika Jutras said.
That’s how many of the province’s 58,000 workers were unvaccinated in November 2021, when vaccination was mandatory, he said.
“As less than one percent of staff are unvaccinated, any update is negligible. “
Here’s the breakdown of other people who have stayed home without getting paid in the past two months:
“It’s not too late for those who are unvaccinated to get vaccinated,” said Jutras. “We encourage them to do so.”
No one has been fired for being vaccinated, he added.
Premier Blaine Higgs announced on Oct. 5 that all provincial government workers in the public service, school system, physical care system, and Crown corporations, as well as staff in long-term care facilities, schools, and licensed early learning and child care centers. You will need to be fully vaccinated by Nov. 19.
On Nov. 20, workers who were fully vaccinated and took advantage of the medical exemption were placed on unpaid leave.
A COVID-19 vaccination scheduled for Sunday at Fredericton High School has been canceled, Horizon Health Network reported Friday on social media.
People with a booked appointment will need to reschedule, according to a post on Twitter.
Those who were making plans to attend walk-ins are asked to check online for when the clinic will be held.
Horizon officials did not respond to a question about how many other people had reservations or what prompted the cancellation.
Immediate check collection in Miramichi is moving, says Horizon Health Network.
Starting Monday, the pickup location will be at Tyra’s Infinity Centre, 1 Marina Dr. , in Douglastown.
The move aims to “reduce congestion” at the existing Wellington Street site, which also serves as a PCR clinic, spokesman Kris McDavid told CBC News.
“So most often this is a logistical measure,” he said in an email.
With archives through Hadeel Ibrahim
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