Key Takeaways:
- Nova Scotia has broken its daily COVID-19 case count record for the fifth day in a row.
- The province reported 485 new virus cases on Monday, the most since the pandemic began in 2020.
There were 287 cases on Thursday. Friday’s total was 394, Saturday’s total was 426, and Sunday’s 476.
On Monday, 317 new cases were reported in the Central Zone, including the Halifax area. Meanwhile, 57 patients were reported in the Eastern Zone, 36 in the Northern Zone, and 75 in the Western Zone.
There are now 9 people in the hospital, two of whom are in the intensive care unit. There have been two more people in the hospital since the province’s last update on Friday.
With the outspread of the Omicron variant, the number of reported cases has skyrocketed. Premier Tim Houston stated last week that it is a trend that the province can expect to see in the coming days.
“We’re not used to high case numbers in Nova Scotia, and we don’t like them.” However, the reality is that cases will continue to rise. “We certainly expect to see sustained high case counts in the coming days,” he said during a press conference on Friday.
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“The sheer volume of cases is putting enormous strain on both public health and our dedicated lab professionals.” The Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 9,198 tests on Sunday.
On Tuesday at 2 p.m., Houston and Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical health officer, will hold a COVID-19 briefing. On Monday, all nine regional library boards announced on their websites and social media that they had run out of rapid test kits.
One week ago, the province began stocking libraries across the region with kits. The province stated that there were 400,000 kits available for distribution.
On their website, Halifax Public Libraries stated that their role as pick-up locations has been “paused” and distributed 27,480 kits through their branches.
South Shore Public Libraries stated that they would not be receiving any more tests before Christmas. However, the kits are being “redirected to other locations” due to increasing cases.
Source: Global News
