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Overview
Border restrictions
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories
Two more people have died from COVID in Nova Scotia.
One of the deceased was a man in his 60s who lived in Nova Scotia Health’s Central Zone. He had received one dose of vaccine but two weeks had not passed before he contracted the disease.
The other deceased person was a man in his 50s who lived in the Western Zone. He was unvaccinated.
Ninety-two Nova Scotians have died from the disease, and 26 of those were since April 1.
Additionally, Nova Scotia announced two new cases of COVID-19 today (Tuesday, June 22). One is in the Central Zone and is a close contact of a previously reported case, and the other is in the Western Zone and is related to travel.
There are now 74 known active cases in the province; two people are in hospital with the disease, but neither is in ICU; five people are considered newly recovered today.
Click here to see Nova Scotia’s reopening plan.
Here are the daily new case numbers and the seven-day rolling averages (today at 6.1) since March 28:
Here is the daily case count since the start of the pandemic in March 2020:
Here is the active caseload since March 28:
And here is the active caseload for the duration of the pandemic:
Border restrictions
Starting tomorrow at 8am, people can travel into Nova Scotia from PEI and Newfoundland without self-isolating.
But because New Brunswick has opened up to the rest of Canada, there will be a “modified” border restriction for those travelling from New Brunswick into Nova Scotia.
• Those who have received two doses of vaccine (and for whom two weeks has passed since the second dose) will have to self-isolate only until they get a single negative test result. Given current turnaround times for test results, that will typically mean just a day or two.
• Those who have received one dose of vaccine (and for whom two weeks has passed since that dose) will have to self-isolate for seven days, and must receive two negative test results — one from the Day 1 or Day 2 of their arrival, and the second from Day 5 or Day 6.
• Those who are unvaccinated or received their first dose less than 14 days before arriving must self-isolate for two weeks.
• Children under 12 arriving in Nova Scotia from New Brunswick must follow the testing and self-isolation rules of the least-vaccinated parent they are travelling with.
There are exemptions for those who travel for work, school, child care, and veterinary services, and for rotational workers.
Starting on June 30, the rules that will apply to New Brunswick will be extended to the rest of Canada, excepting PEI and Newfoundland.
At today’s COVID briefing, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang said that depending on New Brunswick’s COVID situation and the vaccination rates in Nova Scotia, the border restrictions may be relaxed.
Vaccination
Yesterday, 14,612 doses of vaccine were administered. A total of 790,514 doses have been administered; of those, 96,781 were second doses. As of end of day yesterday, 71.4% of the entire population has received at least one dose of vaccine.
The graph above shows the percentage of each age cohort that has received at least one dose of vaccine. The population figure is based on the 2019 census, so the percentage skews a little high. The vertical yellow line represents 85% of those eligible for a vaccine (that is, those 12 years old and older) — the percentage needed such that 75% of the entire population (that is, including those 11 years old and younger) is vaccinated.
At today’s briefing, Strang said that even though Nova Scotia leads all other provinces in terms of the percentage of people who have at least one dose, there is lower takeup among younger men, and especially those living outside HRM. He said the province is organizing mass vaccination clinics at large employers such as Michelin in an attempt to address that problem.
People 12 years old and older can book a vaccination appointment here.
People in rural areas who need transportation to a vaccine clinic 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
The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:
Central Zone
• 38 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 4 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 8 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 0 in the Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit Community Health Network
• 0 in the West Hants Community Health Network
• 1 not assigned to a Community Health Network
Total: 51
Eastern Zone
• 14 in the Cape Breton Community Health Network
• 1 in the Inverness, Victoria & Richmond Community Health Network
• 0 in the Antigonish & Guysborough Community Health Network
Total: 15
Northern Zone
• 1 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 3 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 0 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 4
Western Zone
• 3 in the Annapolis and Kings Community Health Network
• 1 in the Lunenburg & Queens Community Health Network
• 0 in the Yarmouth, Shelburne & Digby Community Health Network
Total: 4
Testing
Nova Scotia Health labs completed 3,323 PCR tests yesterday. This does not include the antigen tests administered at the rapid-testing pop-up sites.
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:
Tuesday
Alderney Gate, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Centennial Arena, noon-7pm
New Minas Fire Hall, noon-7pmWednesday
Alderney Gate, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Centennial Arena, noon-7pm
New Minas Fire Hall, noon-7pmThursday
Alderney Gate, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Cole Harbour Place, noon-7pm
New Minas Fire Hall, noon-7pm
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
Public Health only issues potential exposure advisories when they think they may not have been able to contact all close contacts at that locale. The large majority of potential exposure sites never make it onto a public advisory.
Last night, Nova Scotia Health issued the following potential COVID exposure advisory:
Anyone who worked at or visited the following locations on the specified date and time should visit covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/ to book a COVID-19 test, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms. You can also call 811 if you don’t have online access, or if you have other symptoms that concern you.
For the following locations, if you do not have any symptoms of COVID-19 you do not need to self-isolate while you wait for your test result. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 you are required to self-isolate while you wait for your test result, as are the other members of your household.
· Winners – Mic Mac Mall (21 Micmac Blvd., Dartmouth) on June 15 between 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, June 29.
· YMCA Lunenburg County, EXCLUDES Childcare Centre (75 High Street, Bridgewater) on:
o June 16 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
o June 17 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
o June 18 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, July 2.Regardless of whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms, those present at the following location on the named dates and times for at least 15 minutes are required to self-isolate while waiting for their test results. If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating, however, you are asked to get retested 6-8 days and 12-14 days after this exposure. If you get a positive result, you will be contacted by Public Health about what to do next.
*Exception*: If patrons present at this location, at this time, have completed their series of vaccines, and their last dose was two weeks prior to the exposure, they do not need to isolate pending their results, given they are asymptomatic.· YMCA Lunenburg County, Main Floor Fitness Centre ONLY (75 High Street, Bridgewater) on:
o June 16 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
o June 17 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
o June 18 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, July 2.
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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