Thirty new cases of COVID-19 were identified in Nova Scotia yesterday (Wednesday).
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says that gives us a total of 579 confirmed cases.
“There are currently eleven individuals in hospital, four of those in ICU. We now have one-hundred seventy-six people that can be considered to be recovered, so that’s thirty-nine more than we had yesterday and that’s good news and as we move through this, we’ll continue to have more and more people recovering.”
He says the QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab processed 1065 tests yesterday.
In their release, the Department of Health and Wellness also says there have been three deaths and 18,453 negative test results.
Due to the number of deaths in long-term care facilities, the government is now including them as a separate number in their press releases and updates.
Dr. Strang says the numbers are collected and then reported to the government in the morning.
“We now have seven licensed long-term care facilities that have cases of COVID-19 and, in total amongst those seven facilities, we’ve had forty-two residents who have tested positive, along with twenty-three staff.”
He says protecting the residents and helping the staff is a top priority.
Every level of government is trying to ensure food security during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier, Stephen MacNeil says the supply chain is essential and they are working with producers and retailers with one objective.
“How do we ensure that we get that Nova Scotia product on shelves? At the same time, the national government’s announced temporary foreign workers will be coming into the country. They’ll follow all of the same health protocols as all other people coming into our province. That will help towards planting and the production of our agricultural sector.”
The Premier says there are no exceptions when it comes to our public health protocols and the temporary foreign workers must follow strict protocols, beginning with an assessment before they are allowed to leave their own countries.
