15 New Hospital Admissions, Seven Discharges, Five Deaths

Today, January 24, Nova Scotia is reporting 15 new hospital admissions and seven discharges.

Nova Scotia is also reporting five deaths related to COVID-19:

• a woman in her 60s in Central Zone
• a man in his 70s in Central Zone
• a man in his 70s in Western Zone
• a man in his 90s in Central Zone
• a woman in her 90s in Western Zone.

“This has been a tragic weekend. My heart is breaking for the loved ones, friends and families of the five Nova Scotians who have died,” said Premier Tim Houston. “This is an awful reminder of how serious COVID-19 can be and we need to do better to protect everyone from this virus. Please get vaccinated and get your booster as soon as you can, slow down your activities and follow all of the public health measures in place.”

There are 92 people in hospital who were admitted due to COVID-19 and are receiving specialized care in a COVID-19 designated unit. That includes 14 people in ICU. The age range of those in hospital is 18-100 years old. The average age is 67, and the average length of stay of people admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 is 6.8 days.

“My prayers and condolences are with the families of the five people who passed away,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health. “We must never forget that COVID-19 is all around us. The actions of every single Nova Scotian are critical right now. I urge everyone to keep doing all you can to protect each other and help get this virus under control.”

Of the 92 people in hospital, 89 were admitted during the Omicron wave.

The vaccination status of those in hospital is:

• 15 (16.3 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
• 57 (62.0 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses)
• 3 (3.3 per cent) are partially vaccinated
• 17 (18.5 per cent) are unvaccinated.

It is important to note that less than 10 per cent of Nova Scotians are unvaccinated.

There are also two other groups of people in hospital related to COVID-19:

• 93 people who were identified as positive upon arrival at hospital but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19 but no longer require specialized care
• 119 people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital.

Vaccine Coverage:

As of January 23, 2,037,609 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 90.9 per cent of Nova Scotians have received their first dose, and 83.3 per cent have received their second dose.

As well, 43.2 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received a booster dose, and 9.1 per cent have booked a booster dose appointment.

Cases and Testing:

On January 23, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) labs completed 2,835 tests. An additional 362 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being reported.

There are 165 cases in Central Zone, 45 cases in Eastern Zone, 61 cases in Northern Zone and 91 cases in Western Zone.

From January 22 and 23, 30 of the 1,005 positive lab results were repeat positives.

As of today, there are an estimated 4,470 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Hospital and Long-Term Care Outbreaks:

The NSHA is reporting additional cases related to the outbreaks in two hospitals:

• seven additional patients in a ward at Yarmouth Regional Hospital; a total of 14 patients have now tested positive
• one additional patient in a ward at the Victoria General site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre; a total of 10 patients have now tested positive.

The Province is reporting one outbreak in a long-term care facility: three residents at Northwood in Halifax. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place.

Quick Facts:

• a state of emergency was declared under the Emergency Management Act on March 22, 2020, and has been extended to February 6, 2022

Additional Resources:

Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information, handwashing posters and fact sheets at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus

Information on provincewide restrictions that took effect December 22 and other public health measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 is available at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/restrictions-and-guidance/

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-notifying-positive-covid-19-cases-text-advising-notify-close-contacts

Government of Canada: https://canada.ca/coronavirus or 1-833-784-4397 (toll-free)