Jump to sections in this article:
Overview of today’s cases
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories

Nova Scotia announced 18 new cases of COVID-19 today, Friday, October 15.

By Nova Scotia Health zone, the new cases break down as:
• 12 Central Zone
• 3 Northern Zone
• 3 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 199 known active cases in the province. Fourteen people are in hospital with the disease, one of whom is in ICU. Seventeen 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

Yesterday, 2,816 doses of vaccine were administered — 1,511 second doses and 1,305 first doses.

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 grey line is people with at least one dose; the yellow line is 75% of the entire population; and the red line is 80% of the entire population.

Weekly new cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia per 100,000 people by vaccination status

Between Oct. 7 and Oct 13 there were 166 new cases. Of those:
• 33 were fully vaccinated — that’s a rate of 4.5 for every 100K people who are fully vaccinated
• 13 were partially vaccinated — that’s a rate of 23.2 for every 100K people who are partially vaccinated
• 120 were unvaccinated — that a rate of 64.1 for every 100K people who are unvaccinated

Weekly hospitalizations in Nova Scotia per 100,000 people by vaccination status

Between Oct. 7 and Oct 13 there were 6 people hospitalized. Of those:
• 1 was fully vaccinated — that’s a rate of 0.1 per 100K people who are fully vaccinated
• 0 were partially vaccinated
• 5 were unvaccinated — that’s a rate of 2.7 per 100K people who are unvaccinated

No one died from COVID-19 in Nova Scotia between Oct. 7 and Oct. 13.

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, the new cases break down as:
• 8 are aged 0-11
• 1 is aged 12-19
• 5 are aged 20-39
• 3 are aged 40-59
• 1 is aged 60-79

There were notices of potential exposures at two schools yesterday: Dartmouth South Academy and Halifax Central Junior High.

Some schools may have multiple notifications on the same day.

The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:

Central Zone
• 97 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 52 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 21 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 1 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: 174

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

Northern Zone
• 3 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 1 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 3 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 7

Western Zone
• 7 in the Annapolis and Kings Community Health Network
• 4 in the Lunenburg & Queens Community Health Network
• 1 in the Yarmouth, Shelburne & Digby Community Health Network
Total: 12


Testing

Nova Scotia Health labs completed 3,697 PCR tests yesterday. This does not include the antigen tests administered at the 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:

Friday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Centennial Arena, noon-7pm

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

Sunday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm

Monday
Halifax Convention Centre, noon-7pm
Centennial Arena, 10am-2pm

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 three potential COVID exposure advisories yesterday, and five 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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Tim Bousquet is the editor and publisher of the Halifax Examiner. Twitter @Tim_Bousquet Mastodon

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