Nova Scotia reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, with only two active cases remaining.
Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, also announced that improvements are being made to ensure Nova Scotians with symptoms of the coronavirus get tested faster.
“With school resuming and other parts of Canada seeing a second wave of COVID-19, we are increasing our capacity to test people with symptoms more quickly to make sure we detect and manage cases,” McNeil said in a press release.
“Our first step is a new online COVID-19 self-assessment tool, which will dramatically reduce the wait time for screening.”
As of Thursday, instead of calling 811 as a first step, people can now do a COVID-19 self-assessment online.
According to the province, this will reduce the wait time to be screened for testing from 12 hours to about 10 minutes.
“If the online assessment determines that a person requires a test, the Nova Scotia Health Authority or the IWK Health Centre will call them within 24 to 48 hours to book an appointment,” said the government.
In the meantime, 811 will continue to take calls from people who cannot access the online tool or who wish to speak with a nurse about their symptoms.
According to the province, 811 has received an average of 1,467 calls per day and served an average of 1,024 patients per day since the beginning of September.
“It is reasonable to expect a resurgence of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia and the improvements we’re making in our testing process will help us be prepared for it,” said Strang.
“We can minimize any resurgence by continuing to follow all the public health measures to keep COVID-19 out of our communities as much as possible.”
The province said the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 977 Nova Scotia tests on Wednesday.
To date, Nova Scotia has 95,244 negative test results, 1,088 positive COVID-19 cases and 65 deaths.
One person is currently hospitalized in the ICU.
The province has seen 1,021 recoveries so far.
The province’s health officials urge anyone currently experiencing a fever or cough to visit the 811 website to see if an assessment is needed.
If anyone experiences two or more of the following symptoms, they should ask if an assessment is needed:
- sore throat
- runny nose
- headache
- shortness of breath
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