Nova Scotia is reporting 61 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, driven by a new cluster of cases in Northern Zone and community spread elsewhere.
The province also recorded 31 recoveries, bringing the active case count to 200.
Of the new cases, 33 are in Northern Zone, 24 are in Central Zone — which includes Halifax — and four cases are in Western Zone.
The province noted in a news release there is a new cluster of cases in a localized community in Northern Zone and there is also evidence of limited community spread in Halifax and parts of northern Nova Scotia.
“While there is a low level of ongoing community transmission in the northern part of Nova Scotia, the higher case numbers we’re seeing in the area yesterday and today are associated with a cluster of cases in a defined group of largely unvaccinated individuals,” said Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, in the release.
“They are co-operating with local public health and the cases appear to be contained within this group.”
The province also said that there are no new cases at East Cumberland Lodge, a long-term care home in Pugwash, which has been experiencing an outbreak. A total of 32 residents and 11 staff members have tested positive. Four of the residents have died during the outbreak.
There are currently 13 people in hospital, including four patients in ICU.
Four schools were notified on Monday of an exposure. They are Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Junior Elementary and Beechville Lakeside Timberlea Senior Elementary in Timberlea, as well as Central Colchester Junior High in Central Onslow and Valley Elementary School in Valley.
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Vaccine mandate update
As of Tuesday, 84.6 per cent of Nova Scotians have at least one dose of vaccine and 81.3 per cent are fully vaccinated.
The province released its fourth update on the vaccine mandate for key sectors and the provincial civil service.
Tuesday marked the last day for employees under two vaccination mandates to provide their proof of vaccination to their employers.
The latest data shows 99 per cent of frontline healthcare, continuing care, paramedics, education employees’ and others in the COVID-19 vaccine mandate have at least one dose of vaccine.
It also shows 99 per cent of provincial government employees have at least one dose.
On Monday, the province announced it was offering unvaccinated health-care workers who are hesitant of receiving mRNA vaccines the one-dose Janssen COVID-19 shot made by Johnson & Johnson.
Workers who do not show proof of vaccination face unpaid leave. The province says it is “working to monitor and address any impacts.”
For example, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development expects there may be some disruption to school busing in Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) and small pockets in other education regions.
“In HRCE, drivers may be assigned to new routes and one driver may need to cover an additional route before and after school, leading to potential delays for students. Families will be notified if there is a change or delay to their child’s bus route,” the release read.
Meanwhile, the Department of Seniors and Long-Term Care is working with facilities and home-care agencies to ensure residents and seniors continue to receive care they need.
“While vaccination rates are high across the sector, existing workforce shortages mean that even a small number of unvaccinated staff could result in a facility or agency not being able to accept new residents or seniors. Contingency plans could include using employment agencies and travelling nursing staff and offering part-time and casual staff full-time employment,” the province said.
The province noted there were 20 exemptions granted to the COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
Two human rights exemptions were granted out of 134 requests, and 18 medical exemption requests were granted out of 49 applications.
A final update on the mandates will be released by the end of the week.
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