13 new cases of COVID-19 reported in N.S., 5 at Dartmouth school

Nova Scotia is reporting 13 new cases of COVID-19 for Jan. 1-2, including five cases connected to a Dartmouth school.

Eleven cases were reported on Friday, according to a news release from the Department of Health and Wellness. Ten are in the central health zone and one in the northern zone.

All of them are close contacts of previously reported cases or linked to travel outside Atlantic Canada, the release said.

Five of them are at Churchill Academy, a private school in Dartmouth.

There were two previous cases at the school, for a total of seven.

Those two positive cases were reported over the last week, according an email Saturday from Dan Harrison, director of communications for the Department of Health and Wellness. The school was not identified in the reports.

The last day of classes was Dec. 18.

Classes are scheduled to resume on Jan. 11, Pat Doherty, the school's principal, told CBC News in an email Saturday. Public schools are also set to reopen for classes on Jan. 11.

"We are continuing to take guidance from Public Health in regards to this matter," Doherty said.

Two new cases were reported on Saturday.

One is in the central zone and linked to travel outside Atlantic Canada. The other is in the northern zone and is under investigation by Public Health.

There are now 27 known active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

The number of tests conducted at Nova Scotia Health Authority's labs is not available today, but will be updated on Jan. 4.

The province did not plan to release daily COVID-19 case numbers over the holiday weekend, except in "unusual circumstances."

Because of low case numbers over the holidays, dine-in services at restaurants and bars in HRM are allowed to resume on Monday, one week earlier than originally planned when the restrictions came into effect in December.

A full list of potential exposure sites in the province can be found here.

Atlantic Canada case numbers

The latest COVID-19 numbers from the Atlantic provinces are:

• Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases on Saturday. There are 11 active cases and one person is in hospital.
• New Brunswick reported 10 new cases on Saturday for 34 active cases. One person is hospitalized and in intensive care.
• P.E.I. is reporting no new cases and six active cases.