N.S. reports 123 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, new isolation requirements

Nova Scotia is reporting 123 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and 16 recoveries.

Because of the outbreak at St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, beginning today, the number of positive cases will be reported using lab results, not Panorama results, to better reflect the situation on the ground.

“Because of the volume of cases, we now have a backlog of cases having that detailed investigation,” says Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health.

“For the foreseeable future, while we deal with getting on top of the backlog again, which we’ve had before, we’ve dealt with it, it’s more accurate that we give you the number of cases coming from the lab.”

Fifty-six of the new cases are in the Central zone, 60 are in the Eastern zone, six are in the Northern zone, and one is in the Western zone.

StFX OUTBREAK

The total number of cases connected to the StFX outbreak is 114.

“We know, as we are looking into things, that many of the new cases in Central zone are quite likely part of the StFX outbreak,” says Strang.

“Some of the cases we have been able to investigate have been people who live in Central zone, but were at the X-ring events last weekend.”

Public health notes that some cases associated with this outbreak are being counted in Central Zone because of the address on the student’s health card. That is why not all of these cases are reflected in the Eastern zone numbers.

“As we are able to do the investigation, we are uncovering these and seeing that more and more, even though they are attributed to the Central zone under how our breakdown of information happens, they were actually at or a part of the StFX cluster,” says Strang.

SECONDARY SPREAD

Even though there is a backlog of cases, Strang says public health’s primary objective is to make initial contact with a positive case within 24 hours once it is identified at the lab.

“What we’re doing is just getting basic information and then prioritizing those cases,” says Strang.

“What I’ve asked people to focus on mostly, we want to make sure we don’t miss or slow picking up cases that may be secondary spread.”

Strang says the priority for the more detailed follow up is cases that are not clearly linked to the StFX cluster.

“In all cases, with that initial call within 24 hours, every case is given information around their need to isolate, information of what to watch for with worsening illness, and we are also now asking people, while we’re waiting because of some of the backlog, to start to identify and contact anybody they may have been in close contact with,” says Strang.

“We are giving people information on how to do that and what to say. It’s important that we get people doing that and not waiting for the more detailed public health follow up to start that process.”

CLOSE CONTACTS

Anybody who has been identified as a close contact, either by someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 or by public health, is being asked to isolate and make an appointment for a PCR test at least 72 hours after their exposure, regardless of vaccination status. If the individual’s test is negative, they can then come out of isolation.

“Because of the pattern of what we are seeing of fairly easy transmission and lots of transmission in cases of people who are fully vaccinated, we’re going back to what we used to do and saying, regardless of vaccination status, people who are identified as contacts need to isolate and do a PCR test,” says Strang.

“Expect to see more cases and these types of numbers in the days ahead. We’re probably getting close to, or at the peak of our cases and then we should start to see things decrease.”

According to Strang, we are seeing the protective effect of vaccines, as the current cases are all relatively mild.

“A lot of kids are sick, fever, chills, malaise, but we are not seeing people having to go to emergency rooms, not having to be hospitalized,” says Strang.

“I think that is attributable to, this is in a younger age group by and large, but the majority of these people are vaccinated, at least a single dose, many of them with two doses of vaccine. That doesn’t mean the vaccine is not working, it show the protective effects of the vaccine, especially against severe illness.”