Today, May 8, Nova Scotia is reporting a death related to COVID-19. A man in his 70s has died in Central Zone.

There have now been 71 COVID-19 related deaths in Nova Scotia.

Nova Scotia is also reporting 163 new cases of COVID-19 today.

There are 134 cases in Central Zone, 13 in Northern Zone, eight in Eastern Zone and eight in Western Zone.

“Another family is suffering the loss of a loved one, and on behalf of all Nova Scotians, I want to offer my condolences,” said Premier Iain Rankin. “Our province is at a serious point in the pandemic. The actions of every single Nova Scotian are critical right now. Everyone has a role to play. So, let’s do it together. Let’s get this virus under control.”

One case in Central Zone involves a staff member of Melville Gardens, a residential care facility in Halifax. Another case is in Western Zone and involves a staff member at Harbour View Haven, a nursing home in Lunenburg. As a precaution, residents living on the impacted units at both facilities are being isolated and cared for in their rooms. Staff and residents on the impacted units are being tested. Most residents have been fully vaccinated with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

There is community spread in Central Zone. The Eastern, Northern and Western Zones continue to be closely monitored for community spread.

Public health continues to work through the backlog of positive cases that need to be contacted and entered into Panorma, the data system. To allow for timely notification, public health is contacting confirmed positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts by text message when possible. Nova Scotia Health has created a team that is immediately calling all positive cases to advise they are positive and determine whether they need supports. Public health will continue to do detailed follow up on cases and contacts as soon as they are able.

Given delays, anyone tested due to a potential exposure, because they have symptoms, or were advised by public health that they were a close contact or needed to self-isolate until receiving test results, should continue to self-isolate until they receive a negative result. Their household should also isolate until contacted. Close contacts of confirmed COVID-19 cases and those who were present at high-risk exposure locations are required to self-isolate for a full 14 days, regardless of their test result. In addition, anyone who becomes unwell should assume that they have COVID-19, isolate along with their household and arrange testing.

As of today, Nova Scotia has 1,538 active cases of COVID-19. There are 49 people in hospital, including seven in ICU.

On May 7, Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 6,911 tests.

“It is never easy to hear that a Nova Scotian has passed away as result of COVID-19. My thoughts and prayers are with those who are grieving,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health. “We said we’d have some very rough days ahead as we get this outbreak under control. We have been at this for a long time now and people are getting tired, but we cannot be complacent. The stakes are very high.”

Since April 1, there have been 2,012 positive COVID-19 cases and five deaths. Cases range in age from under 10 to over 90. There are 469 resolved cases. Cumulative cases may change as data is updated in Panorama.

Nova Scotia is currently under stronger restrictions to protect public health. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, Nova Scotians are required to remain in their own communities except for essential travel for work, necessary shopping and medical appointments, including vaccination appointments. In this instance ‘community’ is defined as one’s municipality or county and Nova Scotians should remain as close to home as possible. Detailed information is available at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/restrictions-and-guidance/ .

Nova Scotians are strongly encouraged to use pop-up sites if they are not showing symptoms but want to be tested. Rapid testing pop-up sites continue to be set up around the province. More information on testing can be found at https://www.nshealth.ca/coronavirustesting .

Asymptomatic COVID-19 testing has reopened at the primary assessment centres across the province. To book an appointment, visit: https://covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/en

Visit https://covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/ to do a self-assessment if in the past 48 hours you have had or you are currently experiencing mild symptoms, including:

— fever (i.e. chills/sweats) or cough (new or worsening)
— sore throat
— runny nose/nasal congestion
— headache
— shortness of breath/difficulty breathing

Call 811 if you cannot access the online self-assessment or wish to speak with a nurse about your symptoms.

When a new case of COVID-19 is confirmed, the person is directed to self-isolate at home, away from the public, for 14 days. Public health works to identify and test people who may have come in close contact with that person.  As always, anyone who develops symptoms of acute respiratory illness should limit their contact with others until they feel better.

It remains important for Nova Scotians to strictly adhere to the public health order and directives – practise good hand washing and other hygiene steps, maintain a physical distance when and where required. Wearing a non-medical mask is mandatory in most instances. Information is at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/masks/ .

Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information, handwashing posters and fact sheets at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus .

Businesses and other organizations can find information to help them safely reopen and operate at https://novascotia.ca/reopening-nova-scotia .

Quick Facts:
— additional information on COVID-19 case data, testing and vaccines is available at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/
— a state of emergency was declared under the Emergency Management Act on March 22, 2020 and extended to May 16, 2021
— due to an increased number of investigations in recent days, the exposure category (i.e., travel, close contact or under investigation) is not available by release time. A breakdown by zone identifying exposure categories will no longer be provided regularly

Additional Resources:
More information about public health contacting positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts by text message is available here: https://www.nshealth.ca/news/public-health-begins-contacting-positive-covid-19-cases-close-contacts-text-message

More information on what is considered essential travel is available here: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/travel/#from-outside-atlantic-canada

Government of Canada: https://canada.ca/coronavirus

Government of Canada information line 1-833-784-4397 (toll-free)

The Mental Health Provincial Crisis Line is available 24/7 to anyone experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis, or someone concerned about them, by calling 1-888-429-8167 (toll-free)

If you need help with a non-crisis mental health or addiction concern call Community Mental Health and Addictions at 1-855-922-1122 (toll-free) weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Kids Help Phone is available 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free)

For help or information about domestic violence 24/7, call 1-855-225-0220 (toll-free)

For more information about COVID-19 testing and online booking, visit https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/symptoms-and-testing/

Source: Release #notw