N.S. saw 7,500 new COVID-19 cases, 15 deaths in June, 1st monthly report shows

Nova Scotia’s first monthly COVID-19 report says there were 15 deaths attributed to the virus in June.

Of the 15 deaths, 13 involved people aged 70 and up, and seven people were long-term care residents.

There were 67 deaths recorded in May, though the province said in the report released Friday that “deaths are subject to a lag in reporting,” and current month numbers should be “interpreted with caution.”

In June, public health also saw 7,570 new PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19, with an average of 252 cases a day. This shows a decline in new infections reported, as May saw 11,030 cases confirmed.

The median age of those infected is 44, though it ranged from zero to 110 years old last month.

There were 144 hospitalizations for COVID-19 in June, a decrease of 85 compared to the previous month.

The median age of those hospitalized was 72, and the average length of stay at a hospital was 6.4 days.

Since Wave 6 began on March 1, about 1.5 per cent of the 61,790 cases reported were hospitalized. About 0.3 per cent were placed under intensive care, and the same amount died.

The province announced in mid-June that it will begin issuing epidemiology summaries monthly, instead of weekly, this month. However, it continues to update its COVID-19 dashboard with weekly updates.

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In the seven-day period ending July 12, there were 1,562 new PCR cases reported and five more deaths linked to COVID-19.

Another 36 Nova Scotians were admitted to hospital, and as of July 12, there were 32 active hospitalizations with nine in intensive care.

More than half of adult Nova Scotians, 52.5 per cent, have received at least three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. About 82 per cent have received at least two doses, while 14.8 per cent remain unvaccinated with no doses administered.

The next monthly report will be out Aug. 15.