12 New Hospital Admissions, Nine Discharges

Today, February 8, Nova Scotia is reporting 12 new hospital admissions and nine discharges.

There are 91 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 0-97 years old. The average age is 65, and the average length of stay of people admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 is 8.3 days.

Of the 91 people in hospital, 87 were admitted during the Omicron wave.

The vaccination status of those in hospital is:

• 21 (23.1 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
• 36 (39.5 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses)
• 1 (1.1 per cent) is partially vaccinated
• 33 (36.3 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:

• 130 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
• 142 people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital.

Vaccine Coverage:

As of February 7, 2,157,384 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 91.5 per cent of Nova Scotians have received their first dose, and 84.8 per cent have received their second dose.

As well, 58.1 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received a booster dose, and 3.2 per cent have booked a booster dose appointment.

Cases and Testing:

On February 7, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) labs completed 2,020 tests. An additional 219 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being reported.

There are 81 cases in Central Zone, 46 cases in Eastern Zone, 41 cases in Northern Zone and 51 cases in Western Zone.

As of today, there are an estimated 3,132 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Hospital and Long-Term Care Outbreaks:
NSHA is reporting one new outbreak, at Cape Breton Regional Hospital. Fewer than five patients have tested positive.

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

• one additional patient in a ward at the Victoria General site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre; a total of 16 patients have now tested positive
• one additional patient in a ward at Digby General Hospital; fewer than 10 patients have tested positive.

The Province is reporting one outbreak in a long-term care facility: two residents and six staff members have tested positive at Tideview Terrace in Conway.

Public health is working with the facilities 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 20, 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)