Nova Scotia has broken its daily COVID-19 case count record for the fifth day in a row.
On Monday, the province reported 485 new cases of the virus — the highest number since the pandemic began in 2020.
Last Thursday, there were 287 cases. Friday saw 394, Saturday had 426 and Sunday registered 476.
Of the new cases on Monday, 317 were in Central Zone, which includes the Halifax area. Meanwhile, 57 cases were in Eastern Zone, 36 in Northern Zone and 75 in Western Zone.
Nine people are currently in hospital, including two in the intensive care unit. That’s two more people in hospital since the province last updated hospitalizations on Friday.
The case numbers have skyrocketed amid the spread of the Omicron variant. Last week, Premier Tim Houston said it’s a trend the province can expect to see in the coming days.
“Nova Scotians, we’re not used to high case numbers and we don’t like them. But the reality is that the case numbers will continue to stay high. We expect to see sustained high case counts over the coming days, for sure,” he said during a briefing on Friday.
“The sheer volume of cases is putting incredible pressure on public health and also on our dedicated lab professionals.”
On Sunday, the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s labs completed 9,198 tests.
Houston and Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, are scheduled to hold a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday at 2 p.m.
Outbreak at long-term care, school exposures
The province is reporting an outbreak at Parkstone Enhanced Care in Halifax, where one resident and one staff member have tested positive.
“All staff and residents are fully vaccinated, and all eligible residents have had a booster shot. Public health is working with the facility to prevent further spread. Increased public health measures and restrictions are in place,” the province noted in a release.
Over the past three days, 28 schools have been notified of an exposure.
Libraries run out of rapid test kits
On Monday, all nine regional library boards indicated on their websites and social media they had run out of rapid test kits.
The province began stocking libraries across the province with kits exactly one week ago.
At the time, the province said there were 400,000 kits available to hand out.
Halifax Public Libraries wrote on their website that their role as pick-up locations has been “paused” and that they had distributed 27,480 kits through their branches.
South Shore Public Libraries wrote that they will not be receiving any more tests before Christmas, and that kits were being “redirected to other locations” because of the rising case numbers.
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