**** HEALTH/WELLNESS Media Release
1,020 New Cases of COVID-19
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NOTE: Nova Scotia is issuing an abbreviated COVID-19 news release today. The online dashboard will not be updated today but will be updated tomorrow, January 4.
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Today, January 3, Nova Scotia is reporting 1,020 new cases of COVID-19.
There were 664 cases in Central Zone, 120 cases in Eastern Zone, 104 cases in Northern Zone and 132 cases in Western Zone. The NSHA lab completed 6,303 tests.
There are 36 people in hospital with four in ICU. Since the Omicron variant was first identified in Nova Scotia, 31 people have been admitted to hospital with COVID-19. The remaining five cases were in hospital before Omicron arrived.
Because of a spike in testing and positive cases, public health is experiencing delays in follow-up. All cases should contact their close contacts. Public health is prioritizing contact tracing in 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 .
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)
