114 New Cases of COVID-19, Omicron Variant Cases, Long-Term Care Outbreak
Today, December 13, Nova Scotia is reporting 114 new cases of COVID-19.
There are 55 cases in Central Zone, 52 cases in Eastern Zone, five cases in Western Zone, and two cases in Northern Zone.
Because of the outbreak at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, the number of positive cases being released today are lab results, not Panorama results. This continues to better reflect the situation on the ground.
Those infected in the outbreak are experiencing relatively mild symptoms and the cases are mostly young people who are fully vaccinated.
Due to the spike in testing and positive cases, public health is experiencing some delays in follow up. People whose lab test is positive will continue to receive an initial contact from public health within 24 hours and they will be provided information on required isolation and testing and asked to contact their close contacts. Detailed follow-ups are being prioritized and may be delayed. Public health will continue to support contact tracing in schools, long-term care, correctional facilities, shelters and other settings.
All close contacts, including those who are fully vaccinated, now need to isolate until they have a negative result from a lab-based (PCR) test. The lab test should be performed at least 72 hours after the exposure. Public health strongly recommends regular rapid testing for all Nova Scotians.
It is important that people who test positive with a rapid test self-isolate and get a lab test regardless of vaccination status. If that confirmatory test is negative, they may stop isolating if they have no symptoms. Testing has been increased in the Antigonish area, including extended hours at the testing centre, and mobile units have been deployed.
The National Microbiology Lab has confirmed 40 Omicron variant cases. These cases were previously reported.
The Province is reporting an outbreak at Parkland Antigonish, a seniors living community. Two residents and two staff members from the retirement home have tested positive and one staff member from Mary’s Court, the licensed long-term care neighbourhood, has tested positive.
No one is in hospital. All staff and residents are fully vaccinated, and all residents of Mary’s Court have had a booster shot. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place.
Over the past three days, 17 schools were notified of an exposure(s) at their school. As always, all staff, parents and guardians are notified of exposures if a positive case (student, teacher or staff) was at the school while infectious. A list of schools with exposures is available online: https://backtoschool.ednet.ns.ca/school-exposures
Nova Scotia Health Authority's labs completed 3,882 tests on December 10; 4,766 tests on December 11; and 5,304 tests on December 12.
Six people are in hospital, including two in ICU. There are no hospitalizations in Eastern Zone.
As of December 12, 1,681,621 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 790,778 Nova Scotians have received their second dose, and 46,537 eligible Nova Scotians have received a third dose.
Testing advice:
Symptoms and self-assessment:
Regardless of your vaccination status, anyone with symptoms should immediately self-isolate and visit https://covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca/ to do a self-assessment and book a COVID-19 test if in the past 48 hours they have had or are currently experiencing:
- cough (new or worsening)
Or two or more of the following symptoms:
- fever (chills, sweats)
- headache
- runny nose or nasal congestion
- sore throat
- shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
People should call 811 if they cannot access the online self-assessment or wish to speak with a nurse about their symptoms.
Testing advice for people without symptoms:
People who do not have symptoms and should get tested are listed at https://www.nshealth.ca/visit-covid-19-testing-site. People who do not meet this criteria can get a rapid test at a pop-up site or a mobile unit. Locations are listed at https://www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus/covid-19-rapid-testing .
People who were advised by public health that they were a close contact may need to self-isolate. Information about self-isolation requirements for different situations is at https://www.nshealth.ca/what-do-i-need-know-about-covid-19-self-isolation .
Additional Resources:
Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information, handwashing posters and fact sheets at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus
More information on COVID-19 case data, testing and vaccines is available at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/
More information about public health text notifications of positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts is available here: https://www.nshealth.ca/news/public-health-begins-contacting-positive-covid-19-cases-close-contacts-text-message
Government of Canada: https://canada.ca/coronavirus or 1-833-784-4397 (toll-free)