N.S. reports 1 new COVID-19 case, fully vaccinated Canadians from abroad allowed entry

Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 and nine recoveries on Monday.

The case is in Central Zone and is related to travel.

At a COVID-19 briefing, Premier Iain Rankin said “we are in a stable condition” and that vaccination is the best defence against COVID-19.

As of Monday, Canadians and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated are now able to enter the country without having to quarantine — provided they have proof of inoculation and have submitted a negative COVID-19 test.

This is the first phase of loosening the Canada-U.S. border restrictions that have been in place since March 2020.

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Rankin said people who can show that they’ve taken the two vaccines don’t have to self-isolate once they enter the province.

Nova Scotia’s Chief Nedical of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, said as travellers enter the province’s borders, testing is critical.

In the meantime, he said there’s two contained clusters of COVID-19 cases in Halifax and Glace Bay.

“Many of those people haven’t been vaccinated and that’s a significant contributor,” said Strang.

Moving to Phase 5 requires a high proportion of eligible Nova Scotians to be fully vaccinated.

During phase 5 of Nova Scotia’s reopening plan, the province will start to move into living during COVID-19. This includes easing public health measures and supporting ongoing expanded travel into Nova Scotia.

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Right now, Strang said 73 per cent of Nova Scotians have at least one dose, and 29 per cent of Nova Scotians have two doses of the vaccine.

“We need people to keep getting their first dose and move us beyond the minimum target of 75 per cent of the total population,” he said.

He said if the province can boost its vaccine coverage rates this month, then they’ll be able to reduce some of the public health measures before the end of the summer.

As of Monday, 1 million vaccine doses have been administered. Of those, 283,691 Nova Scotians have received their second dose.

Nova Scotia has 45 active cases of COVID-19 so far. Of those, two people are in hospital COVID-19 units.

Since April 1, the province said there have been 4,112 positive COVID-19 cases and 26 deaths.

There are 4,041 resolved cases.