HALIFAX: Nova Scotia is reporting two more deaths related to COVID-19, bringing the total to nine. The deaths occurred at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax Regional Municipality.
As of today, Nova Scotia has 675 confirmed cases of COVID-19 after 26 new cases were identified Saturday.
In the Eastern Zone – taking in eastern Nova Scotia and Cape Breton –the total for the region remains at 45 as no new cases were reported yesterday.
The QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab completed 856 Nova Scotia tests on Saturday and is operating 24-hours.
As of April 18, there were eight licensed long-term care homes in Nova Scotia with cases of COVID-19, involving 93 residents and 54 staff.
To date, Nova Scotia has 21,120 negative test results, 675 positive COVID-19 test results and nine deaths. Confirmed cases range in age from under 10 to over 9. Of those, 11 individuals are currently in hospital, four of those in ICU, while 200 individuals have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved.
While most cases in Nova Scotia have been connected to travel or a known case, there is now community spread. That is why travel has been removed as a requirement for testing for COVID-19.
The list of symptoms being screened for has also expanded. Those who have two or more of the following symptoms – fever, new or worsening cough, sore throat, runny nose, and headache – should visit https://811.novascotia.ca/ to determine if they should call 811 for further assessment.
Public health is working to identify and test people who may have come in close contact with the confirmed cases. Those individuals who have been confirmed are being directed to self-isolate at home, away from the public, for 14 days.
Anyone who has travelled outside Nova Scotia must self-isolate for 14 days. As always, any Nova Scotian who develops symptoms of acute respiratory illness should limit their contact with others until they feel better.
It is now more important than ever for Nova Scotians to strictly adhere to the public health orders and directives – practise good hygiene, maintain a physical distance of two metres or six feet from others, limit essential gatherings to no more than five people and stay at home as much as possible.
Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information, daily testing numbers, handwashing posters and fact sheets at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus.
A state of emergency was declared under the Emergency Management Act on March 22 and extended to April 19, then extended again to May 3.
There are 22 primary assessment centres in Nova Scotia, 21 operated by Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) – including Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital and St. Martha’s Regional Hospital – and one operated by the IWK Health Centre. Temporary primary assessment centres are operating in two communities.
Two mobile assessment centres are being established by NSHA to do community-based testing; Emergency Health Services operates two field assessment units, one in Halifax Regional Municipality and one in Cape Breton Regional Municipality
The first death in the province was on April 6, a woman in her 70s with underlying medical conditions died in hospital in the Eastern Zone as a result of complications related to COVID-19.
On April 8, Nova Scotia has recorded its second death when a woman in her 90s, with underlying medical conditions, died in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital as a result of complications related to COVID-19.
Nova Scotia recorded its third death related to COVID-19 on April 13 when a male in his 80’s in the Halifax Regional Municipality died as a result of complications related to COVID-19.
On April 17, a female in her 80’s in Cape Breton died as a result of complications related to COVID-19, becoming the province’s fourth death related to the novel coronavirus.
Three more deaths were reported Friday at the Northwood long-term care home in the Halifax Regional Municipality.