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Overview
Vaccination
Testing
Nova Scotia is reporting seven new COVID deaths today (Monday, Feb. 28). The deceased are:
• a man in his 30s who lived in the Central Zone
• a man in his 60s who lived in the Central Zone
• a woman in her 60s who lived in the Northern Zone
• a man in his 70s who lived in the Northern Zone
• a man in his 80s who lived in the Northern Zone
• 2 women in their 80s who lived in the Central Zone
The Department of Health notes:
Data on deaths comes from Panorama, public health’s disease information system. It is entered into the system only after the death is identified to be COVID-related, which can take days or weeks to investigate and report. The majority of data on deaths is reflective of virus activity in the past, at the point of infection, and not the situation today, at the point of reporting.
Additionally, the province is reporting a total of 333 people in hospital who either now have COVID or once did have COVID, as follows:
• 45 admitted because of COVID symptoms (a recent low), 10 of whom are in ICU. Those 45 range in age from 5 to 92 years old, and their median age is 59;
• 122 admitted to hospital for other reasons but who tested positive for COVID during the admissions screening or who were admitted for COVID but no longer require specialized care;
• 166 who contracted COVID in the hospital outbreaks
The vaccination status of the 45 is:
• 11 (24.4%) have had 3 doses
• 20 (44.4%) have had 2 doses but not 3
• 1 (2.2%) has had 1 dose only
• 13 (28.9%) are unvaccinated
Note that less than 9% of the population is unvaccinated
New lab-confirmed case counts:
Feb. 26: 322
Feb. 27: 322
Feb. 28: 242
“There will be an increase in new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported,” explains the Dept. of Health. “This is expected and is a result of people with positive rapid tests being able to get a confirmatory PCR test. New cases reported will now show a greater proportion of overall cases in the province.”
Hospital outbreaks
There are new cases at three ongoing hospital outbreaks:
• Hants Community — 1 new for a total of fewer than 10
• Cape Breton Regional (one ward) — 1 new for a total of 10
• Cape Breton Regional (another ward) — 1 new for a total of 12
Vaccination
Over the past three days, 2,084 doses of vaccine were administered:
• 122 first doses
• 809 second doses
• 1,153 third doses
In total, 2,212,224 doses have been administered:
• 882,713 first doses
• 829,810 second doses
• 499,701 third doses
By end of day yesterday, 92.1% of the entire population have received at least 1 dose of vaccine:
• 5.4% with 1 dose only
• 35.2% with 2 doses but not 3
• 51.5% with 3 doses
• 7.9% unvaccinated
Appointments for boosters are now open to people 18 and over for whom 168 days have passed since their second shot.
Vaccination appointments for people 5 years of age and older can be booked 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.
Testing
Nova Scotia Health labs completed 1,449 PCR tests yesterday, with a positivity rate of 16.8%.
Pop-up testing has been scheduled for the following sites:
Monday
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pmTuesday
Halifax Central Library, noon-7pm
Alderney Gate, 4-6pm
You can volunteer to work at the pop-up testing sites here or here. No medical experience is necessary.
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