Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting a total of 76 people in specialized COVID-19 care hospital units on Sunday.
That’s a decrease from the 79 reported on Saturday.
Officials say of the 76 people hospitalized, 71 were admitted during the most recent wave of the pandemic driven by the Omicron variant. Their age range is between nine and 93, with a median age of 66.
There are currently 13 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.
Officials also say there are 132 people in hospital who tested positive for the disease upon arrival but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19 but no longer require specialized care.
There are also 148 patients who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted.
Officials are reporting 243 new lab-confirmed cases of the disease with 96 cases in the central zone, 47 cases in the western zone, 59 cases in the eastern zone and 41 cases in the northern zone.
Monday marks the beginning of loosened restrictions in the province. Restrictions will be eased over three phases.
Each phase will last about a month and moving on to the next phase will depend on epidemiology, hospitalizations, case activity in long-term care and employee absenteeism.
— With files from The Canadian Press and Alex Cooke