HALIFAX: As students start learning from home, the province has made available a breakdown of COVID-19 cases in each part of the province and is taking steps to do more testing and enforcement.
Accounting for approximately 10 per cent of all confirmed novel coronavirus cases in Nova Scotia, the public can now see updated numbers for the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Eastern Zone – which takes in all of Cape Breton and eastern Nova Scotia – via: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data. The regional number is based on the location where the sample was collected for testing, not the individual’s location of residence.
On April 5, the province announced it is working with the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) and Emergency Health Services (EHS) to provide temporary primary assessment centres, EHS assessment units, a mobile assessment centre, and expanded lab testing.
There are assessment centres in the Strait area, one at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish, the other at Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital.
Temporary primary assessment centres will be established in communities with more known cases. The first temporary assessment centre opened in Elmsdale. Like the other assessment centres, people must be referred by 811. Those directed to an assessment centre will have a physical assessment onsite and swabbed, if appropriate,
The NSHA is working on a mobile assessment centre. Once operational, the centre could be brought into communities temporarily to do assessment and testing.
Two mobile EHS assessment units, staffed by paramedics trained to do at-home testing, will be used for people who have mobility issues and cannot get to an assessment centre, or in situations where a cluster of testing needs to be done, for example, at a long-term care home. When someone is referred to an assessment centre via 811, it will be determined whether an EHS assessment unit should be used.
To accommodate the increase in testing, starting April 6, the QEII Health Sciences Centre Microbiology Lab will move to full 24-hour operations. The lab will be capable of processing over 1,000 tests per day.
Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Strang, noted that with community spread confirmed and more cases expected, Nova Scotia needs to adjust its testing strategy.
“We want to have more options to identify and test for COVID-19 in communities,” Dr. Strang told a press briefing in Halifax. “We need to be flexible and be able to react quickly to the path this disease might take in Nova Scotia.”
On April 3, Paul Landry, regional executive director of education for the Strait regional centre for education (SRCE) sent a letter to students and families announcing that the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is distributing Grade Primary to 9 learning materials through store flyer packages. Those who do not receive weekly flyers and want to activate delivery, can contact: 1-800-565-3339 or e-mail: saltwire.com/nshomelearning, as well as: NS-education@saltwire.com.
In the letter, Landry said teachers will stay in touch with Grade 10-12 students and are working on plans to offer support to students without access to technology at home.
“We know that each family has unique needs and circumstances, and teachers will work with you to find an arrangement that is best for your family,” the letter reads.
Because Grade 12 students have questions about courses, graduation, and support for post-secondary applications, the SRECE has shared a document for Grade 12 students on their Web site under “Question and Answer Guide for Grade 12 students.” Staff connecting with students who do not have Internet access will share this information with these students and families. School contact information is available on the SRCE Web site under “School Directory for 2019-2020.”
“Please continue to stay in touch with teachers and administrators at your school,” Landry writes in the correspondence. “Teachers and school administrators are checking in with families, and are here to help you as we work together to support students and learning at home.”
On March 31, Nova Scotia RCMP charged four people under the Health Protection Act, in relation to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Two people were charged for failing to self-quarantine or self-isolate after returning from out of country. Two others were charged for failing to maintain a social distance of two metres or six feet. All four individuals were fined $1,000.
On April 1, three people were charged under section 23 (b) of the Emergency Management Act for failing to comply with a direction, order or requirement made under the act.
On the same date, one business was charged under section 71(1)(a), and one person was charged under section 71(1)(b) of the Health Protection Act for failing to adhere to orders contained in the Chief Medical Officer’s Public Health Order. Under the Emergency Management Act, the people were fined $697.50. Under the Health Protection Act, the business was fined $7,500 and person was fined $1,000.