**** HEALTH/WELLNESS Media Release
689 New Cases of COVID-19, Long-Term Care Outbreak
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Today, December 23, Nova Scotia is reporting 689 new cases of COVID-19.
There are 498 cases in Central Zone, 55 cases in Eastern Zone, 79 cases in Northern Zone and 57 cases in Western Zone.
Because of a spike in testing and positive cases, public health is experiencing some delays in follow-up. Public health will try to contact anyone confirmed positive by the lab within 24 hours to provide information on required isolation and testing. All cases will be asked to contact their close contacts. This may be the only contact a positive case has with public health. Detailed follow-ups are being prioritized to support contact tracing in schools, long-term care, healthcare facilities, correctional facilities, shelters and other group settings.
Information about testing, self-isolation and case management is at: https://www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus
Long-term Care Facilities, Hospitals, Schools
The Province is reporting an outbreak at Roseway Manor in Shelburne. Two staff members have tested positive for COVID-19. Neither is in hospital or has had contact with residents. All staff are fully vaccinated, and 98 per cent of residents are fully vaccinated and have had a booster shot. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place.
There are no new cases reported at Parkstone Enhanced Care in Halifax. A total of two residents and one staff member at the facility have tested positive. No one is in hospital. All staff and residents are fully vaccinated, and all eligible residents have had a booster shot. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place.
There are no new cases at Parkland Antigonish, a seniors’ living community. A total of three residents and two staff members from the retirement home have tested positive. No one is in hospital. All staff and residents are fully vaccinated. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place.
There are no new cases reported at Dartmouth General Hospital. There have been fewer than five patients test positive, and all patients are being closely monitored and infection prevention and control measures are being put in place. Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) is currently testing all patients and staff identified as a close contact.
There are no new cases reported at St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish. The total number of cases is still fewer than five. As a precaution, NSHA is testing identified close contacts, and other infection prevention and control measures are being put in place. Testing will be made available for all staff and doctors on site who want to get tested.
There are no new cases reported at the Halifax Infirmary site of the QEII Health Sciences Centre. There have been fewer than five patients test positive, and all patients are being closely monitored and other infection prevention and control measures are being put in place.
On December 22, 11 schools were notified of an exposure(s) at their school. As always, all staff, parents and guardians are notified of exposures if a positive case (student, teacher or staff) was at the school while infectious. A list of schools with exposures is available online: https://backtoschool.ednet.ns.ca/school-exposures
Active Cases, Hospitalization, Tests, Vaccination Data
As of today, there are an estimated 3,844 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. Of those, 14 people are in hospital, including four in ICU.
On December 22, NSHA’s labs completed 8,181 tests.
As of December 22, 1,758,286 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 793,489 Nova Scotians have received their second dose, and 105,019 eligible Nova Scotians have received a third dose.
Additional Resources:
Nova Scotians can find accurate, up-to-date information, handwashing posters and fact sheets at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus
Information on provincewide restrictions that took effect December 22 and other public health measures to help slow the spread of COVID-19 is available at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/restrictions-and-guidance/
More information on COVID-19 case data, testing and vaccines is available at: https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus/data/
More information about public health text notifications of positive COVID-19 cases and close contacts is available here: https://www.nshealth.ca/news/public-health-notifying-positive-covid-19-cases-text-advising-notify-close-contacts
Government of Canada: https://canada.ca/coronavirus or 1-833-784-4397 (toll-free)
