The Nova Scotia government has launched a new web page which it says has important information that will help local businesses reopen.
Premier Stephen McNeil announced the launch of “Preparing to Reopen Nova Scotia” during Tuesday’s press briefing, adding that the province’s goal is still to reopen the economy in “early June.”
“It will answer a number of questions. It will help with the how-to,” McNeil said.
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Nova Scotia identifies 1 new case, no deaths for 3rd day in a row
The province has still not released a fixed date on when they plan to officially reopen the economy, only saying they’ll be providing more details this week.
2 new cases, 1 new death in Nova Scotia
The province announced one additional death connected to the novel coronavirus and two additional cases.
The death involved a woman in her 80s with underlying medical conditions in the province’s central zone who was not a resident of a long-term care home.
There have now been 59 deaths connected to COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
The two new cases in Nova Scotia brings the province’s total to 1,052. There was a total of 1,051 cases on Monday.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia reports 1 new case of COVID-19 as active cases continue to shrink
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief public health officer, confirmed that a false positive test resulted in the discrepancy.
“The testing that has been done by the lab is very accurate, but no test is perfect,” Strang said. “That means there’s only a chance for a test to have an inaccurate or indeterminate result.”
Strang said the two new were known contacts of a previous case.
“We know how they got exposed. There is no indication that they were exposed in a sort of general community exposure, which is good news,” Strang said.
Of the 1,052 total cases, 17 remain active. Northwood, the only long-term care home in Nova Scotia with active COVID-19 cases, currently has 11 residents and four staff active cases.
The QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab completed 573 Nova Scotia tests on Monday. To date, Nova Scotia has had 38,999 negative test results.
A total of 976 cases are now deemed recovered.
‘The reopening is coming’
Premier McNeil said Strang’s consolations with businesses that were forced to close will continue this week to let them know how they can reopen safely.
He says even though the province has come a long way, the last thing he wants to do is to “have to close down our economy again because we rushed to reopening.”
“It all depends on our cases staying low,” he said. “I know that we are moving more slowly than other provinces, bu as Dr. Strang and I have said from the very beginning, this is not a race.
McNeil said the opening will happen with restrictions and will continue to follow the advice of public health.
“Thank you again to everyone, keep up the good work,” he concluded. “Businesses, continue to get ready.
“The reopening is coming.”
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus.
For full COVID-19 coverage from Global News, click here.
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