Nova Scotia reports 23 new cases, active count drops to 160

HALIFAX -

Nova Scotia is reporting 23 new cases and 26 recoveries of COVID-19 on Friday, dropping the active count to 160.

Public health says there are 13 cases in Central zone, six in Western zone, three in Northern zone and one case in Eastern zone.

Five patients in a non-COVID-19 unit at Valley Regional Hospital in Kentville have tested positive for the virus.

One person is in intensive care at the hospital and the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) continues to test patients, staff and doctors identified as close contacts.

On Thursday, two schools were notified of an exposure.

A list of schools with exposures is available online.

VACCINATION STATUS OF CASES

There have been 77 cases of COVID-19 identified between Oct. 14 and 20. Of those:

• 23 (29.9 per cent) were fully vaccinated
• 3 (3.9 per cent) were partially vaccinated
• 51 (66.2 per cent) were unvaccinated

There have been 5,506 cases from March 15 to October 20. Of those:

• 324 (5.9 per cent) were fully vaccinated
• 353 (6.4 per cent) were partially vaccinated
• 4,829 (87.7 per cent) were unvaccinated

There were 304 people hospitalized. Of those:

• 11 (3.6 per cent) were fully vaccinated
• 30 (9.9 per cent) were partially vaccinated
• 263 (86.5 per cent) were unvaccinated

Thirty-two people died. Of those:

• 3 (9.4 per cent) were fully vaccinated
• 3 (9.4 per cent) were partially vaccinated
• 26 (81.3 per cent) were unvaccinated

Of the 160 active cases, 15 people are in hospital, including four in ICU.

TESTING

There were 26,384 rapid tests administered between Oct. 15 and 21. This includes 2,775 rapid tests at the pop-up sites in Halifax and Dartmouth and 23,609 through the workplace screening program.

Another 12,741 home rapid tests were distributed at the pop-up sites.

On October 21, the health authority's labs completed 2,780 tests.

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Thursday, 1,558,391 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 77.6 per cent or 753,331 Nova Scotians have received their second dose and 796 people in Nova Scotians have received a third dose.

Since August 1, there have been 1,312 positive COVID-19 cases and four deaths. Cases range in age from under 10 to over 90. There are 1,148 resolved cases.

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