34 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Thursday, September 16

Jump to sections in this article:
Overview
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories

Nova Scotia announced 34 new cases of COVID-19 today, Thursday, September 16.

Of the new cases:
• 27 are in Nova Scotia Health’s Northern Zone — all are close contacts of previously reported cases;
• 7 are in the Central Zone — 2 are close contacts and 5 are under investigation
• 1 is in the Eastern Zone — it is related to travel

The Department of Health repeats its earlier explanation: “There is a large cluster of linked cases in a defined, unvaccinated group in Northern Zone, and more cases are expected.” As the Examiner has previously reported, this is an outbreak among one Mennonite community (and not all Mennonite communities), and is of very little risk to the rest of the province.

There are now 173 known active cases in the province. Four people are in hospital with the disease, but not in ICU. Twenty people are considered newly recovered, which means they are no longer contagious and not necessarily that they aren’t sick.

Vaccination

Yesterday, 3,387 doses of vaccine were administered — 1,997 second doses and 1,390 first doses. A total of 1,478,410 doses of vaccine have been administered, of which 709,884 were second doses. As of end of day yesterday, 79.1% of the entire population (including young children) have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 73.1% have received two doses.

However, the approximately 8,000 military personnel stationed in Nova Scotia were vaccinated through the military’s vaccination program and are not included in the above percentages; if they are included, then the double-dosed percentage increases to 73.9% of the entire population.

The province will likely hit the 75% threshold sometime next week if military people are included, and sometime the following week if not. Either way, that threshold will be met by the Phase 5 reopening now scheduled for Oct. 4

People 12 years old and older can also book a vaccination appointment here.

People in rural areas who need transportation to a vaccination appointment should contact Rural Rides, which will get you there and back home for just $5. You need to book the ride 24 hours ahead of time.

Demographics

Of the 6 latest cases:
• 9 are aged 0-12
• 5 are aged 13-19
• 11 are aged 20-39
• 7 are aged 40-59
• 1 is aged 60-79
• 1 is 80 or older

The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:

Central Zone
• 28 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 18 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 9 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 0 in the Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit Community Health Network
• 1 in the West Hants Community Health Network
• 2 not assigned to a Community Health Network
Total: 58

Eastern Zone
• 4 in the Cape Breton Community Health Network
• 0 in the Inverness, Victoria & Richmond Community Health Network
• 2 in the Antigonish & Guysborough Community Health Network
Total: 6

Northern Zone
• 76 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 4 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 25 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 105

Western Zone
• 3 in the Annapolis and Kings Community Health Network
• 0 in the Lunenburg & Queens Community Health Network
• 1 in the Yarmouth, Shelburne & Digby Community Health Network
Total: 4

Testing

Nova Scotia Health labs completed 4,016 PCR tests yesterday. This does not include the antigen tests administered by the pop-up testing sties, or those conducted at home.

You do not need a health card to get tested.

Pop-up testing (antigen testing) is for asymptomatic people over 16 who have not been to the potential COVID exposure sites (see map below); results usually within 20 minutes. Pop-up testing has been scheduled for the following sites:

Thursday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Alderney Gate, 10am-2pm

Saturday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Dartmouth Summer Sunshine Series, 5:30-7pm

Sunday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Dartmouth Summer Sunshine Series, 1:30-3:30pm

You can volunteer to work at the pop-up testing sites here or here. No medical experience is necessary.

You can also get PCR testing at the Nova Scotia Health labs by going here. Appointments can be made for the IWK, or for various locations in each of the health zones (appointments may not be available at each site).

Potential exposure advisories

Nova Scotia Health issued several potential COVID exposure advisories yesterday.

We’ve collected all the active advisories for potential COVID exposures on bus routes and flights here.

The updated potential COVID exposure advisory map is below; you can zoom in and click on the coronavirus icons to get information about each site.

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