N.S. announces 6 deaths related to COVID-19 Tuesday, 7 new hospital admissions

Health officials in Nova Scotia have announced six deaths related to COVID-19 on Tuesday.

According to a news release from the province, the deaths involve:

• a woman in her 60s in Central Zone
• a woman in her 70s in Central Zone
• a woman in her 70s in Western Zone
• a woman in her 80s in Western Zone
• a man in his 80s in Northern Zone
• a man in his 90s in Northern Zone

“My heart goes out to the families and friends of the six Nova Scotians who died,” said Premier Tim Houston in a new release from the province.

“To all Nova Scotians, we know what we have to do to protect ourselves and others. Please do your part and get vaccinated to help prevent another loss.”

The province is reporting seven new admissions and three discharges from hospital Tuesday. There are currently 74 people in hospital who were admitted because of COVID-19.

Of those in hospital:

• Eleven are in the ICU
• They range in age from 0 to 93 years old
• The median age is 66
• The average stay in hospital is 6.1 days

“I offer my sympathies to the six families and friends grieving the loss of their loved one today,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, in a press release from the province.

“It is tragic to see the virus take more life. To everyone, use this as a sad reminder to get vaccinated and wear a mask to help keep Omicron from spreading.”

The vaccination status of those in hospital is:

• 20 (27.0 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
• 26 (35.1 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses)
• 1 (1.4 per cent) is partially vaccinated
• 27 (36.5 per cent) are unvaccinated

There are also two other groups of people in hospital who have 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
• 162 people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Feb. 14, 2,184,388 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 91.6 per cent of Nova Scotians have received their first dose, and 85.7 per cent have received their second dose.

Also, 60.2 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received a booster dose, and 1.8 per cent have booked a booster dose appointment.

CASES AND TESTING

On Feb.14, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) labs completed 1,872 tests. An additional 226 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 are being reported.

Of the new cases:

• 123 cases are in the Central Zone
• 19 cases are in the Eastern Zone
• 28 cases are in the Northern Zone
• 56 cases are in the Western Zone

As of Tuesday, there are an estimated 2,615 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

The province did not provide an update Tuesday on the status of outbreaks in Nova Scotia.