N.S. announces highest single-day COVID-19 case increase with 689 new infections; update on active cases

For eight straight days, Nova Scotia has set record-high COVID-19 single-day case increases.

On Thursday, the province reported 689 new cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day case increase since the onset of the pandemic.  

The previous record for the highest single-day case increase was on Wednesday, when 537 new infections were announced.

Public health says 498 of Thursday’s cases are in the province's Central zone, 55 are in the Eastern zone, 79 cases are in the Northern zone, and 57 are in the Western zone.

As of Thursday, public health says there is an estimated 3,844 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Fourteen people are currently in hospital, four of whom are in intensive care.

The province did not provide an update on recoveries on Thursday.

On Wednesday, 11 schools in the province were notified of an exposure at their school.

A full list of school exposures is available online.

Due to an increase in testing and positive cases, public health says it is experiencing some delays in follow-up and will try to contact anyone confirmed positive by the lab within 24 hours.

All cases will be asked to contact their close contacts. This may be the only contact a positive case has with public health.

Detailed follow-ups are being prioritized to support contact tracing in schools, long-term care, health-care facilities, correctional facilities, shelters and other group settings.

On Wednesday, Nova Scotia Health Authority's labs completed 8,181 tests.

OUTBREAK DECLARED AT SHELBURNE NURSING HOME

Public health has declared an outbreak at Roseway Manor – a nursing home in Shelburne.

Two staff members have tested positive for the virus. Health officials say neither of the positive cases are in hospital or have had contact with residents.

All staff at the facility are fully vaccinated, and 98 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated and have had a booster shot.

NO NEW CASES AT DARTMOUTH GENERAL HOSPITAL

Public health says there are no new positive cases at the Dartmouth General Hospital, where fewer than five patients have tested positive for the virus.

Health officials say all patients are being closely monitored.

"Infection prevention and control measures are being put in place, and NSHA is currently testing all patients and staff identified as a close contact. NSHA will provide a further update when more information is available," read a release from the province on Thursday.

UPDATE ON ST. MARTHA'S REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Health officials say no new cases of COVID-19 have been identified at St. Martha's Regional Hospital in Antigonish, N.S.

Public health says there are still fewer than five positive cases connected to the hospital.

As a precaution, NSHA is testing identified close contacts, and other infection prevention and control measures are being put in place.

Testing will also be made available for all staff and doctors on site who want to get tested.

NO NEW CASES AT PARKSTONE ENHANCED CARE

There have been no new cases of COVID-19 identified at Parkstone Enhanced Care – a nursing home in Halifax.

To date, a total of two residents and one staff member at the facility have tested positive. No one is in hospital.

All staff and residents are fully vaccinated, and all eligible residents have had a booster shot, according to public health.

UDPATE ON OUTBREAK AT HALIFAX INFIRMARY

Public health says there are no new cases connected to the outbreak at the Halifax Infirmary side of the QEII Health Sciences Centre.

To date, there have been fewer than five patients test positive for the virus.

"All patients are being closely monitored and other infection prevention and control measures are being put in place," wrote public health.

UPDATE ON PARKLAND ANTIGONISH

There are no new cases of COVID-19 at Parkland Antigonish – a seniors' living community in Antigonish.

To date, three residents and two staff members have tested positive for the virus. No one is in hospital and all staff and residents are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Thursday, 1,758,286 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

Of those, 793,489 Nova Scotians have received their second dose, and 105,019 eligible Nova Scotians have received a third dose.

CHANGES TO DAILY COVID-19 REPORTS

Nova Scotia says beginning Thursday, the province is changing how it reports daily COVID-19 data due to delays in data entry caused by the recent high number of infections.

For most of the pandemic, Nova Scotia has reported data from Panorama – public health's disease information system.

Since Dec. 10, the province has shifted to reporting the number of positive lab test results to more accurately reflect the situation in the province, given the backlog in the Panorama data entry.

The province says, although this  data is more accurate overall, it does contain a small number of duplicate results due to some people getting tested more than once.

"Starting today, duplicate results will be removed from reported case numbers. Each case will only be counted when the person first tests positive," wrote the province in a release. "The data released Monday through Friday will include the number of positive cases after excluding duplicate lab results, the breakdown by zone, estimated active case count, and immunization data and testing data."

On weekends and holidays, officials say the number of positive cases will be reported based on raw lab data, which may include a small number of duplicates, with a breakdown by zone.

"Following weekends and holidays, the number of cases will be updated with the duplicates removed. There will not be reports on Christmas Day or New Year's Day," wrote public health.

Also beginning Thursday, the COVID-19 dashboard will temporarily include the estimated number of active cases and some data will be removed.

"These reporting changes are expected to be temporary and last four to six weeks. The Province will then resume reporting Panorama data," wrote public health.

COVID ALERT APP

Canada’s COVID-19 Alert app is available in Nova Scotia.

The app, which can be downloaded through the Apple App Store or Google Play, notifies users if they may have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

LIST OF SYMPTOMS

Anyone who experiences a fever or new or worsening cough, or two or more of the following new or worsening symptoms, is encouraged to take an online test or call 811 to determine if they need to be tested for COVID-19:

• Sore throat
• Headache
• Shortness of breath
• Runny nose/nasal congestion