Most people N.B. quietly removed from its COVID death totals had the virus when they died – CBC

Province narrowed its official definition of who dies of COVID in March

Oct 21, 2022

New Brunswick health officials retroactively removed 46 people from the province’s COVID death totals last week, even though records show 31 had the virus listed as a “cause of death” on their official death registration forms.

Moreover, they would still be counted as COVID-related fatalities in other jurisdictions.

The removals came after health officials in March significantly narrowed the definition of what qualifies as a COVID death in New Brunswick, as fatalities in the province rapidly climbed to alarming levels.

The change “was not announced publicly at the time,” according to Department of Health spokesperson Adam Bowie.

New Brunswick last week disclosed that its actual death toll from COVID-19 was higher than it had previously reported, following an epidemiological review that raised the pandemic death toll to 572. The review found 125 deaths between March 1, 2020, and May 31, 2022 should be added to the toll, while 46 previously reported COVID-related deaths should be removed.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/covid-19-death-totals-new-brunswick-1.6624173