**** HEALTH/WELLNESS Media Release
611 New Cases of COVID-19, State of Emergency Renewed
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NOTE: Nova Scotia is not issuing a COVID-19 news release on Christmas Day. Abbreviated COVID-19 news releases will be issued on December 26, 27 and 28. The online dashboard will not be updated until Wednesday, December 29.
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Today, December 24, Nova Scotia is reporting 611 new cases of COVID-19.
There are 393 cases in Central Zone, 60 cases in Eastern Zone, 59 cases in Northern Zone and 99 cases in Western Zone.
Because of a spike in testing and positive cases, public health is experiencing some delays in follow-up. 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 available at: https://www.nshealth.ca/coronavirus
Long-term Care Facilities, Hospitals, Schools
There is one new case reported at Parkstone Enhanced Care in Halifax. A total of two residents and two staff members at the facility have tested positive. No one is in hospital. All staff and residents are fully vaccinated, and most 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 changes in current hospital outbreaks.
On December 23, 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 4,266 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. Of those, 15 people are in hospital, including four in ICU.
On December 23, NSHA’s labs completed 8,897 tests.
There were 125,529 rapid tests administered between December 17 and 23. This includes 8,848 rapid tests at the pop-up sites in Halifax and surrounding communities and 116,681 through the workplace screening program. Another 134,304 home rapid tests were distributed at the pop-up sites.
As of December 23, 1,763,416 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered. Of those, 793,666 Nova Scotians have received their second dose, and 109,333 eligible Nova Scotians have received a third dose.
The Province is renewing the state of emergency to protect the health and safety of Nova Scotians and ensure safety measures and other important actions can continue. The order will take effect at noon, Sunday, December 26, and extend to noon, Sunday, January 9, 2022, unless the government terminates or extends it.
Quick Facts:
— a state of emergency was declared under the Emergency Management Act on March 22, 2020, and has been extended to January 9, 2022
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 on 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)
