Nova Scotia has had another day with no positive COVID-19 test results.
The lab completed 532 tests yesterday and the province is steady at 1057 positive cases, with 42,861 negative results and sixty deaths.
Premier Stephen McNeil also gave good news to families looking for daycare for their children.
“Licenced child care centres and family daycare homes will open on June fifteenth. Licenced child care centres will start at a fifty percent capacity and family daycare homes will be at full capacity. All types of facilities will be required to follow strict COVID-19 public health guidelines.”
These guidelines were created with input from pediatrics at the IWK Health Centre and includes feedback received through a sector-led consultation with more than 2,500 participants. The guidelines provide guidance on how centres can prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19, manage disease outbreaks, advise staff on the use of personal protective equipment and outline public health measures that address physical distancing, hygiene practises, cleaning practises, outdoor activities and other considerations.
Based on these guidelines, all licensed child care providers are required to have an individual site-based plan in place to support reopening. They will communicate directly with families in the coming days about their specific reopening plans. Plans will include measures such as:
— increased cleaning
— staggered pick-up and drop-off times
— limit the number of essential visitors entering the facility
— have children sleep six feet apart during nap time
— create groups so the same children are together every day
— limit contact with other groups in the centre
— practise social distancing among staff, visitors and other groups when and where possible
Government will also provide hand sanitizer and single-use surgical masks to licensed facilities for the next six months.
Families will not be required to pay fees if they cannot access their child care space or are not ready to return. Providers will receive funding on a sliding scale until September as they increase their capacity from 50 per cent in accordance with public health guidelines. Families are encouraged to talk to their providers regarding timing of re-enrolling their child in licensed child care.
In other good news, the number of active cases at the Northwood long-term care home in Halifax is down to three residents and two staff, while 992 people in the province have recovered from their infections.
Five people are currently in the hospital, two of them in Intensive Care.
The Nova Scotia Health Authority is trying to make it easier for people to get their negative test results.
Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says those tested will now have the option of being informed by e-mail.
“This is for people who have a Nova Scotia health card, so when you go in for a test, you’ll be given an option to agree, if your test is negative, to have it sent to you by e-mail. It is optional, so if you don’t have an e-mail address or aren’t comfortable with this, sending your health information, you can still receive your negative results by phone.”
He says using e-mail will get the results to you quicker but he also reminds the public that Public Health will follow up every positive result by phone so people should constantly check their phone messages.
As the province prepares for an increase in open businesses at the end of the week, Public Health wants these businesses to be prepared.
Dr. Strang says most sector associations have already submitted plans to Public Health to be reviewed and they will even help businesses who are in the sector but not in an association.
These plans must cover all aspects of preparing to open.
“Physical distancing, sticking to the appropriate number of people if physical distancing cannot be adhered to, how to work and interact with customers in a safe manner, protocols around cleaning, handling and cleaning of equipment, how employees can be prepared to return to work, and basic communications with both employees and customers.”
Sectors such as restaurants and bars, or hair salons, have additional aspects in their association plans.
Businesses not in any associations can submit their own plan to Public Health.
For more information about re-opening a business, go to https://novascotia.ca/reopening-nova-scotia/
