photo from NS Government
There are several services to help people trying to cope with the various aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The world has seen a surge in people feeling anxious, lonely, or scared.
Premier Stephen MacNeil announced a new service to start Saturday morning at 9:00.
” We are launching an enhanced 2-1-1 service. This will connect people who need assistance with to the Red Cross, where they can receive wellness check-ins, particularly those who are feeling isolated and feeling lonely or afraid.”
As well, the Mental Health Provincial Crisis Line and Kids Help Phone are available 24/7 to anyone experiencing a mental health or addictions crisis.
The Mental Health Provincial Crisis Line is available 24/7 by calling 1-888-429-8167 (toll free) and the Kids Help Phone is also available 24/7, at 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free).
Meanwhile, the Premier said in a release that applications for the Worker Emergency Bridge Fund and Small Business Impact Grant will be available and accepted starting next Friday, April 10.
According to the statement, applications for small business will be online at 8 am and a toll-free phone line for the worker fund applications will also be open starting at 8 am (call 1-800-863-6582 after checking eligibility online).
On the medical front, Nova Scotia has recorded its second death due to the pandemic.
In a release, the Department of Health and Wellness announced that a woman in her 90s, with underlying medical conditions, died in the Cape Breton Regional Hospital as a result of complications related to COVID-19.
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says there were 31 new cases of the coronavirus, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 373.
“There are currently ten individuals in the hospital. Four of those are in Intensive Care. The good news..eighty-two people have now been recovered and considered resolved. We’ve tested 12,346 Nova Scotians who have been negative, so, to me that’s an indication we are testing a lot of people, the vast majority are negative.”
The QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab is now operating 24-hours ad is completing almost a thousand tests a day.
Dr. Strang also agrees with medical experts around the world believe COVID-19 could be with us for a long time and he says there will likely be several waves.
“There is no underlying immunity to this virus; we’ll still have a lot of people after the first wave who don’t have immunity. We can fully expect a second wave, perhaps in the Fall and maybe even a third wave in 2021 that may not be as severe as the first wave because we have some immunity.”
Dr. Strang says it’s too early to say how much we will be able to slowly loosen restrictions but the current anticipated projection is some time in June.
