33 new cases of COVID-19 are announced in Nova Scotia on Thursday, May 27

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Overview
Vaccination
Demographics
Testing
Potential exposure advisories

Nova Scotia has announced 33 new cases of COVID-19 today (Thursday, May 27).

Of today’s cases, 14 are in Nova Scotia Health’s Central Zone, 18 are in the Eastern Zone, and one is in the Northern Zone. There are no new cases in the Western Zone. For the first time, the daily new case count in the Eastern Zone (Sydney) exceeds the count in the Central Zone (the Halifax area).

There are now 638 known active cases in the province; 63 people are in hospital with the disease, 21 of whom are in ICU; 182 more people are considered recovered today.

Here are the daily new case numbers and the seven-day rolling averages (today at 56) 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, 21,161 doses of vaccine were administered, a single-day record. By the end of the day, 542,196 doses of vaccine had been administered, 42,904 of which were second doses. About 51.4% of the entire population has received at least one dose.

This morning, vaccination appointment booking was opened for all people 12 years old and older; you 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

Because new case counts have been so reduced, I’m now tracking the cases by age cohorts weekly, on Wednesdays.

The active cases across the province are distributed as follows:

Central Zone
• 219 in the Halifax Peninsula/Chebucto Community Health Network
• 124 in the Dartmouth/Southeastern Community Health Network
• 63 in the Bedford/Sackville Community Health Network
• 18 in the Eastern Shore/Musquodoboit Community Health Network
• 1 in the West Hants Community Health Network
• 33 not assigned to a Community Health Network
Total: 458

Eastern Zone
• 119 in the Cape Breton Community Health Network
• 1 in the Inverness, Victoria & Richmond Community Health Network
• 3 in the Antigonish & Guysborough Community Health Network
Total: 123

Northern Zone
• 24 in the Colchester/East Hants Community Health Network
• 9 in the Pictou Community Health Network
• 11 in the Cumberland Community Health Network
Total: 44

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 6,413 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:

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
Cole Harbour Place, 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
Cole Harbour Place, 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
Dartmouth South Academy, noon-7pm
Cole Harbour Place, 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.

• Shoppers Drug Mart (254 Prince Street, Sydney) on May 20 between 10:15 a.m. and 12:00 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 June 3.
• Walmart (6990 Mumford Road, Halifax) on May 23 between 2:00 p.m. and 3:45 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 6.
• Sobeys (268 Baker Drive, Dartmouth) on May 23 between 9:00 a.m. and 11:30 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 6.

Anyone who was on the following flight in the specified rows and seats should visit https://covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/en to book a COVID-19 test,regardless of whether or not they have COVID-19 symptoms. You can also call 811 if you don’t have online access or if you have other symptoms that concern you. All other passengers on these flights should continue to self-isolate as required and monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19.

• WestJet 230 travelling on May 24 from Calgary (9:30 a.m.) to Halifax (5:16 p.m.). Passengers in rows 6 – 12, seats A, B, C and D. It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus on this flight on the named date may develop symptoms up to, and including, June 7.

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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