Jump to sections in this article:
Overview of today’s cases
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories
Nova Scotia announced 23 new cases of COVID-19 today, Friday, October 22.
By Nova Scotia Health zone, the new cases break down as:
• 13 Central Zone
• 1 Eastern Zone
• 3 Northern Zone
• 6 Western Zone
The Department of Health continues to note that “there are signs of community spread among those in Central Zone aged 20 to 40 who are unvaccinated and participating in social activities.”
There are now 160 known active cases in the province. Fifteen people are in hospital with the disease, four of whom are in ICU. Twenty-six people are considered newly recovered, which means they are no longer contagious and not necessarily that they aren’t sick.
The graph above shows the weekly (Sat-Fri) number of new cases for the duration of the pandemic.
The graph below shows the number of people in hospital and in ICU on Fridays for the duration of the pandemic.
Vaccination
By end of day yesterday, 82.1% of the entire population (including young children) have received at least one dose of vaccine, and 76.7% have received two doses.
The graph above shows the vaccination progress as captured on Fridays through the pandemic. The blue line is people with only one dose of vaccine; the green line is people with two doses; the gold line is people with at least one dose; and the red line is 80% of the entire population. There are 796 people who have received three doses; they don’t yet show up on the graph.
From October 14 to October 20 there were 125 new cases of COVID announced. Of those:
• 34 were fully vaccinated — that’s a rate of 4.6 for every 100K people who are fully vaccinated
• 8 were partially vaccinated — that’s a rate of 14.8 for every 100K people who are partially vaccinated
• 84 were unvaccinated — that’s a rate of 46.7 for every 100K people who are unvaccinated
From October 14 to October 20, 8 people were hospitalized. Of those:
• 3 were fully vaccinated — that’s a rate of 0.4 per 100K people who are fully vaccinated
• 1 was partially vaccinated — that’s a rate of 1.8 per 100K people who are partially vaccinated
• 4 were unvaccinated — that’s a rate of 2.2 per 100K people who are unvaccinated
No one died from COVID-19 in Nova Scotia between Oct. 14 and Oct. 20.
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
By age cohort, today’s new cases break down as:
• 4 are aged 0-11
• 3 are aged 12-19
• 8 are aged 20-39
• 3 are aged 40-59
• 5 are aged 60-79
• 0 are aged 80 or older
The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:
Central Zone
• 58 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 31 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 18 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 1 in the Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit Community Health Network
• 1 in the West Hants Community Health Network
• 1 not assigned to a Community Health Network
Total: 110
Eastern Zone
• 1 in the Cape Breton Community Health Network
• 1 in the Inverness, Victoria & Richmond Community Health Network
• 1 in the Antigonish & Guysborough Community Health Network
Total: 3
Northern Zone
• 3 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 1 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 18 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 7
Western Zone
• 22 in the Annapolis and Kings Community Health Network
• 2 in the Lunenburg & Queens Community Health Network
• 1 in the Yarmouth, Shelburne & Digby Community Health Network
Total: 25
Testing
Nova Scotia Health labs completed 2,780 PCR tests yesterday. This does not include the antigen tests administered at the pop-up testing sites.
There were 26,384 rapid tests administered between October 15 and 21 — 2,775 tests at the pop-up sites in Halifax and Dartmouth; 23,609 through the workplace screening program; and 2,741 home rapid tests given away at the 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:
Friday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-9pm — home testing pick up only; no on-site testing
Centennial Arena, 10am-7pmSaturday
Halifax Convention Centre, 9:30am-11;30pm — home testing pick up only; no on-site testing
Alderney Gate, 10am-2pmSunday
Halifax Convention Centre, 9am-7pm — home testing pick up only; no on-site testing
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 two potential COVID exposure advisories yesterday, and two new school exposures were announced today.
We’ve collected all the active advisories for potential COVID exposures on bus routes and flights here. I’ll be adding schools to the map tonight.
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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