N.S. reports 9 COVID-19 related deaths, drop in cases, increase in hospitalizations

Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting a drop in deaths, a slight increase in hospitalizations and a drop in cases in the province's weekly COVID-19 update.

Nine more people in Nova Scotia have died from the virus, four fewer deaths than were reported last week.

"Virus activity has slowed over the last several weeks, but it hasn't stopped,” said the provinces Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang in a news release. “COVID-19 is here to stay, so we need to continue to keep each other safe.”

The province says all of the COVID-19 deaths reported this week were people 70 or older and one third of them lived in long-term care facilities.

Since the start of the pandemic, 400 people in Nova Scotia have died in relation to the virus, more than half of whom died during the Omicron wave.

The data released Thursday covers a seven-day period ending May 30.

Since the start of the Omicron wave in December of 2021, the province says the median age of hospitalizations is 71, and the median age of people who have died is 81.

HOSPITALIZATIONS

Health officials say 41 more people have been hospitalized with COVID-19, an increase of one from last week.

The province says the risk of hospitalization is nearly 11 times higher for those aged 70 years and older compared to those 18 to 49-years-old.

NEW CASES

The province is reporting 1,563 PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 — 21 fewer cases than were reported last week.

Since the start of the pandemic, the median age of a new case has been 41.

VACCINES AND BOOSTERS

As of Thursday, 65.7 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received at least one booster dose, and 64,934 people have received a second.

The province says those who received three or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine had an 86.7 per cent lower risk of hospitalization and a 92.6 per cent lower risk of death than those who were unvaccinated or had only one dose.

They say vaccine-related immunity wanes much more quickly in people 70 and older, which is why a second booster dose was recommended.