HALIFAX -- After going two weeks without reporting a new confirmed case of COVID-19, a new case of the disease has been identified in Nova Scotia.

The provincial government said Tuesday that the new case is related to travel outside Canada and is under investigation by Public Health.

The case is located in the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s western zone, which has now seen 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

During Tuesday's news update, Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang said the new case involves an essential worker connected to travel. who is now self-isolation.

“Because they are involved in the necessary movement of people and goods across the Nova Scotia border, they weren't required to self-isolate, but everything we know so far, is there were a very small number of close contacts in this case, which is good news," said Strang. 

The province also said that one person is currently in hospital in the intensive care unit, but did not confirm whether the person is the latest case reported Tuesday.

More information is expected at a news conference with Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang Tuesday afternoon.

While Nova Scotia went two weeks without reporting a new confirmed case of COVID-19, the province did report a “probable” case on Monday.

The provincial government said the case involves a Dalhousie University student who received “indeterminate test results.”

The student recently returned to Nova Scotia after travelling outside the Atlantic region. The student lives off-campus and has been self-isolating, as required. No other details about the student have been released.

While the test results are inconclusive, the case is being treated as a positive case as a precaution.

Since probable cases are not confirmed to be positive, they are not included in the total number of positive cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Over 4000 university or college students have entered Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic bubble over the last few weeks.

“I consider our approach to universities to be a significant success,” said Dr. Robert Strang at Tuesday's news update. “About 89 per cent have now completed that self-isolation, with more than 94 per cent complying with the daily digital check-in. We have done 8,826 tests of the over 4000 students. We had one true positive, and three probable cases that we were treating as a positive as an abundance of caution.”

681 TESTS

The Nova Scotia Health Authority labs completed 681 Nova Scotia tests on Monday.

To date, Nova Scotia has 88,459 negative test results.

There are now 1,087 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, but 1,021 cases are considered resolved, and 65 people have died, leaving one active case in the province.

One person is in hospital, in the intensive care unit, as a result of COVID-19.

The province's confirmed cases range in age from under 10 to over 90.

Sixty-one per cent of cases are female and 39 per cent are male.

There are cases confirmed across the province, but most have been identified in the central zone, which contains the Halifax Regional Municipality.

The provincial government says cumulative cases by zone may change as data is updated in Panorama, the province’s electronic information system.

The numbers reflect where a person lives, and not where their sample was collected.

  • western zone: 56 cases
  • central zone: 910 cases
  • northern zone: 67 cases
  • eastern zone: 54 cases

LIST OF SYMPTOMS 

Anyone who experiences a new or worsening fever or cough, or two or more of the following new or worsening symptoms, is encouraged to take an online test to determine if they should call 811 for further assessment:

  • sore throat
  • headache
  • shortness of breath
  • runny nose/nasal congestion

SELF-ISOLATION

Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 is required to self-isolate at home, away from the public, for 14 days.

Anyone who travels to Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic region is required to self-isolate for 14 days and must fill out a self-declaration form before coming to the province.

However, the province has eased some self-isolation requirements for out-of-province rotational workers.

Residents of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador are not required to self-isolate when travelling to Nova Scotia, but they must be prepared to provide proof of their place of residency at provincial borders.

Visitors from outside the Atlantic region who have already self-isolated in another Atlantic province for 14 days may travel to Nova Scotia without having to self-isolate again.

The provincial state of emergency, which was first declared on March 22, has been extended to Oct. 4.