37 new cases of COVID-19 announced in Nova Scotia on Wednesday, May 26

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Overview
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories

Nova Scotia has announced 37 new cases of COVID-19 today (Wednesday, May 26).

Of today’s cases, 22 are in Nova Scotia Health’s Central Zone, 11 are in the Eastern Zone, and four are in the Northern Zone. There are no new cases in the Western Zone.

There are now 787 known active cases in the province; 72 people are in hospital with the disease, 19 of whom are in ICU; 94 more people are considered recovered today.

Here are the daily new case numbers and the seven-day rolling averages (today at 61) for the current outbreak, dating from March 28, the last day Nova Scotia had zero new daily cases:

Here’s the graph of daily new case numbers from the start of the pandemic in March 2020:

Here is the active caseload for the current outbreak:

And here is the active caseload from the start of the pandemic in March 2020, showing the primary associations of each of the major outbreaks:

Vaccination

Yesterday, 10,999 doses of vaccine were administered, and by the end of the day, 521,053 doses of vaccine had been administered, 42,205 of which were second doses. About 49.3% of the entire population has received at least one dose, and sometime today the province will cross the 50% vaccination mark.

People 20 years old or 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

There is again a discrepancy in the day-to-day stats of cases by age cohorts. When the count was off by one or two and there were over 100 daily new cases, the error wasn’t particularly significant, but now that there are just 37 new cases, I can’t just ignore the discrepancy. So I’ll now start tracking cases by age cohort weekly, rather than daily.

The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:

Central Zone
• 272 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 173 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 85 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 22 in the Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit Community Health Network
• 2 in the West Hants Community Health Network
• 37 not assigned to a Community Health Network
Total: 591

Eastern Zone
• 127 in the Cape Breton Community Health Network
• 2 in the Inverness, Victoria & Richmond Community Health Network
• 3 in the Antigonish & Guysborough Community Health Network
Total: 132

Northern Zone
• 30 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 10 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 11 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 51

Western Zone
• 7 in the Annapolis and Kings Community Health Network
• 6 in the Lunenburg & Queens Community Health Network
• 0 in the Yarmouth, Shelburne & Digby Community Health Network
Total: 13

Testing

Nova Scotia Health labs completed 5,023 PCR tests yesterday. This does not include the antigen tests conducted at the various pop-up testing 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:

Wednesday

Alderney Gate Public Library, noon-7pm
Shannon Park School, noon-7pm
Dartmouth South Academy, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Burton Ettinger School, noon-7pm
Rockingstone Heights School, noon-7pm
Centre 200 (Sydney), 3-7pm

Thursday
Alderney Gate Public Library, noon-7pm
Dartmouth South Academy, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Burton Ettinger School, noon-7pm
Centre 200 (Sydney), 3-7pm

Friday
Alderney Gate Public Library, noon-7pm
Dartmouth South Academy, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Burton Ettinger School, noon-7pm
Centre 200 (Sydney), 3-7pm

Saturday 
Alderney Gate Public Library, noon-7pm
Dartmouth South Academy, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Burton Ettinger School, noon-7pm
Centre 200 (Sydney), 11am-4pm

Sunday 
Alderney Gate Public Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Burton Ettinger School, noon-7pm
Centre 200 (Sydney), 11am-4pm

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 listed below in each of the health zones (appointments may not be available at each site).

Central Zone
Bayers Lake (41 Washmill Lake Drive)
Burnside/Dartmouth Crossing (77 Finnian Row)
Canada Games Centre
Dartmouth General Hospital Drive-Thru (No Taxis)
Eastern Shore Memorial Hospital
Mayflower Curling Club
The Old School (Musquodoboit)
Saint Mary’s University (Homburg Centre)
Twin Oaks Memorial Hospital (Musquodoboit Harbour)
Zatzman Sportsplex

Northern Zone
Lloyd E. Matheson Centre (Elmsdale)
Colchester Legion Stadium (14 Lorne Street, Truro)
Truro (625 Abenaki Road, with drive-thru at 600 Abenaki Road)
Truro Farmers Market Drive-Thru testing
Amherst (34 Prince Arthur Street) — moving to Amherst Stadium on Monday
Pictou County Assessment Center (678 East River Rd, New Glasgow)

Eastern Zone
Antigonish Market Square
Buchanan Memorial Community Health Centre (Neils Harbour)
Eastern Memorial Hospital (Canso)
Grand Lake Road Fire Hall (Sydney)
Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital
Membertou Entertainment Centre
Northside General Hospital (North Sydney)
Sacred Heart Community Health Centre (Cheticamp)
Strait Richmond Hospital (Evanston)
Victoria County Memorial Hosptial (Baddeck)

Western Zone
Acadia Festival Theatre
Acadia University Club
Berwick Firehall
Digby Station (7 Birch Street)
Liverpool PAC (157 School Street)
Roseway Hospital (Shelburne)
South Shore Assessment Centre (215 Dominion Road, Bridgewater)
Yarmouth Mariners Centre
Yarmouth Visitor Information Centre (228 Main Street)

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.

Potential COVID exposure advisories were issued last night for eight retail sites in HRM:

Anyone who worked at or visited the following locations on the specified dates and times 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.

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.

• NS Health Diagnostic Imaging Victoria General (VG) site of QEII (1276 South Park Street, Halifax) on May 17 between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including May 31.
• NS Health Bayers Road Blood Collection (141-7071 Bayers Road, Halifax) on May 17 between 12:30 p.m. and 2:00 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including May 31.
• Atlantic Superstore (3601 Joseph Howe Drive, Halifax) on:
  • May 19 between 4:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m.
  • May 20 between 4:30 p.m. and 7:45 p.m.
  • May 21 between 3:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
  • It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 5.

• Home Depot (368 Lacewood Drive, Halifax) on May 21 between 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 4.
• Tim Hortons (6034 Lady Hammond Road, Halifax) on:
  • May 20 between 5:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.
  • May 24 between 5:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
  • It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 7.

• Walmart (140 Wade Rd. Truro) on May 21 between 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 4.
• Atlantic Superstore (155 Reserve Street, Glace Bay) on May 21 between 3:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 4.
• Colbourne’s No Frills (332 Welton St., Sydney) on May 21 between 6:15 p.m. and 7:45 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 4.
• Walmart (65 Keltic Drive, Sydney River) on May 22 between 3:30 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 5.
• Superstore (1225 Kings Road, Sydney River) on May 22 between 4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at this location on the named dates may develop symptoms up to, and including June 5.

Regardless of whether or not you have COVID-19 symptoms, any passengers who were on the following transit routes for at least 15 minutes on the named dates and times are required to self-isolate while waiting for their test result. If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating. If you get a positive result, you will be contacted by Public Health about what to do next.

• Halifax Transit Route #28 (Bayers Lake), which runs from Mumford Terminal to Lacewood Terminal, on May 22 between 8:15 p.m. and 8:40 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, June 5.
• Halifax Transit Route #8 (Sackville), which runs from Sackville Terminal to Upper Water & Cornwallis, on May 23 between 8:25 p.m. and 8:50 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, June 6.
• Halifax Transit Route #4 (Universities), which runs from LeMarchant & University to Lacewood Terminal, on May 23 between 4:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, June 6.

I’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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