Three New Hospital Admissions, Four Discharges

Today, February 23, Nova Scotia is reporting three new hospital admissions and four discharges.

There are 49 people in hospital who were admitted due to COVID-19 and are receiving specialized care in a COVID-19 designated unit. That includes 11 people in ICU. The age range of those in hospital is 18 to 96 years old. The median age is 67, and the median length of stay of people admitted to hospital due to COVID-19 is 6.5 days.

Of the 49 people in hospital, 46 were admitted during the Omicron wave.

The vaccination status of those in hospital is:

• 13 (26.5 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
• 22 (44.9 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses)
• 1 (2.0 per cent) is partially vaccinated
• 13 (26.5 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:

• 125 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
• 178 people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital.

Vaccine Coverage:

As of February 22, 2,206,101 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 92.1 per cent of Nova Scotians have received their first dose, and 86.4 per cent have received their second dose.

As well, 61.8 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received a booster dose, and 0.8 per cent have booked a booster dose appointment.

Cases and Testing:

On February 22, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) labs completed 1,617 tests. An additional 200 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being reported.

There are 63 cases in Central Zone, 52 cases in Eastern Zone, 39 cases in Northern Zone and 46 cases in Western Zone.

As of today, there are an estimated 1,898 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Quick Facts:

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

Additional Resources:

More information on COVID-19 case data, testing and vaccines is available at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/

Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information on the Province’s response to COVID-19 at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus

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

Information on Nova Scotia’s three-phase reopening plan, which started February 14, is available at: https://novascotia.ca/reopening-plan/

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)