Nova Scotia's state of emergency will end March 20; 4 more COVID-19-related deaths Friday

Nova Scotia health officials reported four more COVID-19-related deaths Friday.

Public health says the deaths involve:

• a man in his 50s in the Northern Zone
• a man in his 70s in the Eastern Zone
• a man in his 80s in the Northern Zone
• a man in his 80s in the Western Zone

According to the province's online dashboard, Nova Scotia has reported 212 deaths related to the virus since the start of the pandemic.

"This is another difficult day for our province as we send condolences to four more families who have lost loved ones to COVID-19," said Premier Tim Houston in a news release Friday.

"Our way forward continues to be following public health advice, getting vaccinated, getting tested and staying home if you feel unwell. Doing this will help protect ourselves and others."

STATE OF EMERGENCY ENDING MARCH 20

Nova Scotia’s state of emergency will be renewed one last time on Sunday at noon.

The state of emergency will come to an end at 11:59 p.m. on March 20, almost two years to the day after it was first declared, on March 22, 2020.

The province's top doctor says, although restrictions are starting to lift and we are shifting to living with COVID-19, it is important to remember the pandemic is not over.

"COVID-19 is still circulating in communities across the province - so get vaccinated, test regularly and continue to follow public health advice to help protect our most vulnerable Nova Scotians," said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health.

HOSPITALIZATION UPDATE

The province says seven more people have been admitted to hospital and three people have been discharged.

Currently, there are 45 people in hospital who were admitted due to COVID-19 and are receiving specialized care in a COVID-19designated unit.

Of the 45 patients in hospital:

• 13 are in intensive care
• the age range is from five to 91
• the median age is 61
• the average length of stay in hospital is 6.5 days
• 43 were admitted during the Omicron wave

The vaccination status of the 45 patients is as follows:

• 12 (26.7 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine
• 23 (51.1 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses)
• one (2.2 per cent) is partially vaccinated
• nine (20 per cent) are unvaccinated

There are also two other groups of people in hospital who have COVID-19:

• 117 people who were identified as positive upon arrival at hospital but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19 but no longer require specialized care
• 158 people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital

VACCINE UPDATE

As of Thursday, 2,217,196 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.

Of those, 92.2 per cent of Nova Scotians have received their first dose, and 86.8 per cent have received their second dose.

As well, 62.7 per cent of Nova Scotians 18 and older have received a booster dose, and 0.3 per cent have booked a booster dose appointment.

Public health saysless than 10 per cent of Nova Scotians are unvaccinated.

CASES AND TESTING

On Thursday, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) labs completed 1,632 tests. An additional 294 lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases were identified.

Of the new cases:

• 117 are in the Central Zone
• 64 are in the Eastern Zone
• 43 are in the Northern Zone
• 70 are in the Western Zone

As of Friday, the provincial government estimates there to be 2,650 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Public health says it expects to see an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, now that people with positive rapid test results are able to get a confirmatory PCR test again.

Nova Scotia did not report any new outbreaks related to COVID-19 Friday.