Nova Scotia reported 40 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday and is attributing the rise in cases over the past couple of days to faith group gatherings.
During a news briefing, Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, said there are “several clusters of cases,” primarily in the Northern and Western Zones, “related to several faith groups that participated recently in a single multi-day event.”
Strang said the majority of these cases are unvaccinated and there is now further spread within these faith groups.
He said there is no indication of spread outside the faith communities, though they are starting to see some community transmission in Amherst and the northern part of Cumberland County.
There is also another cluster in a separate faith community in the Central Zone involving mostly children who are unable to get vaccinated.
Strang issued an “important reminder” to faith groups that any gatherings outside a regular weekly service requires proof of vaccination.
“So this includes things like bible studies, retreats, youth groups,” he said.
He said there are increased testing and vaccination opportunities available in the affected areas and the people affected are “closely following” public health guidelines.
Strang added that while the weekly services don’t require proof of vaccination, masks must be worn by members of the congregation at all times.
He said he is hopeful that Nova Scotia’s high overall rate of vaccination will limit spread into the broader community.
“I cannot stress enough the importance of people getting both doses of vaccine to further minimize the risk of spread of the COVID-19 virus in our province,” he said.
“Our case numbers and the spread we are seeing clearly shows what happens when people choose not to be vaccinated.”
More booster shots coming
Strang also said Nova Scotia will begin to administer COVID-19 booster doses to more eligible groups by the end of the month.
He said the province will accept five recommendations announced on Oct. 29 by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which includes offering boosters to people with a higher risk of serious COVID-19 illness or decreased protection since vaccination.
Groups who will be eligible in Nova Scotia include:
- Those 80 and older, followed by those aged 70 to 79
- Adult front-line health-care workers who were double vaccinated with an interval of less than 28 days between their first and second doses
- People who received two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine or one dose of the Janssen vaccine.
NACI recommends that booster doses be offered at least six months after the second dose is received.
The province already began offering booster doses for people living in long-term care and immunocompromised people last month.
NACI has also recommended that intervals between the first and second dose of the vaccine be extended to eight weeks for optimal protection. Strang said people who have a second dose booked can reschedule.
He also said vaccine approval for kids aged five to 11 is anticipated from Health Canada by the end of the month, which would make 65,000 people in that age group eligible for the vaccine.
They will likely begin to get their shots in early December, he said.
Most health-care workers fully vaccinated
Nova Scotia requires that all provincial employees — including health-care workers — get vaccinated by Nov. 30, though any worker who is partially vaccinated by Nov. 15 and who intends to get a second dose will have another eight weeks to get one.
On Friday, Premier Tim Houston said preliminary numbers are out on the number of health-care workers who have been vaccinated.
So far, 91 per cent of employees with Nova Scotia Health are reported to have been fully vaccinated and 99 per cent of those with the IWK Health Centre have been vaccinated.
Ninety-three per cent of long-term care workers have been fully vaccinated, 89 per cent of home care workers have been fully vaccinated and 99 per cent of EHS employees have been vaccinated.
As well, 97 per cent of those working in education have been vaccinated.
While these are still preliminary numbers, Houston said they are “encouraging.”
“The priority now is to track down and identify workers that employers haven’t heard from to determine their actual vaccination status and/or their intentions,” he said.
Employees who have not yet reported or who have said they do not intend to be vaccinated must complete a mandatory education program.
He said the province is willing to work with those who is open to getting vaccinated, though they “fully expect” that some will choose not to be vaccinated. He said the province will closely monitor the impact that may have on the health-care system.
“No one wants to see service disruptions, but more importantly, I don’t want to be offering condolences to any other family members who had a loved one taken by this virus,” he said.
“Especially if their loved one contacted COVID-19 from someone in a hospital who was, as an example, who was unvaccinated and caring for them.”
New cases and vaccinations
Of the 40 new cases, 21 are in the Central Zone, 11 are in the Western Zone and eight are in the Northern Zone.
Two more schools — Burton Ettinger Elementary and Charles P. Allen High, both in the Central Zone — were notified of an exposure on Thursday. All schools with exposures can be found here.
With 31 recoveries, there are now 220 active cases of COVID-19. Of those, nine people are in hospital including one in ICU.
Nova Scotia Health labs completed 3,204 tests on Thursday.
According to the provincial COVID-19 dashboard, 83.4 per cent of Nova Scotians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 78.9 per cent are fully vaccinated.
There have been 110 cases of COVID-19 with an episode date between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3. Of those:
- 34 (30.9 per cent) were fully vaccinated
- 7 (6.4 per cent) were partially vaccinated
- 69 (62.7 per cent) were unvaccinated
There were 5,833 cases from March 15 to Nov. 3. Of those:
- 406 (7.0 per cent) were fully vaccinated
- 371 (6.3 per cent) were partially vaccinated
- 5,056 (86.7 per cent) were unvaccinated
There were 308 people hospitalized in that time period. Of those:
- 14 (4.5 per cent) were fully vaccinated
- 31 (10.1 per cent) were partially vaccinated
- 263 (85.4 per cent) were unvaccinated
And 35 people died. Of those:
- 4 (11.4 per cent) were fully vaccinated
- 3 (8.6 per cent) were partially vaccinated
- 28 (80.0 per cent) were unvaccinated
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