N.S. reports 85 people in designated COVID-19 hospital units Sunday

Nova Scotia is reporting that there are 85 people in designated COVID-19 hospital units on Sunday, including 11 people in intensive care.

The abbreviated release did not include information about the number of people admitted and discharged from hospital.

There are 287 people in hospital with COVID-19:

• 85 hospitalized due to the virus.
• 83 identified as positive upon arrival, but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19 but no longer require specialized care.
• 119 contracted COVID-19 while in hospital.

The average age of people in hospital is 67, the release said. Of the 85 people in hospital, 82 were admitted during the Omicron wave.

Currently, unvaccinated Nova Scotians are about four times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than someone with two doses of vaccine. That is based on average hospitalizations since the province started releasing the daily hospitalization numbers by vaccine status on Jan. 4.

The province is also reporting 503 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Of these, 256 are in the central health zone, 108 in the western zone, 76 in the eastern zone and 63 in the northern zone. 

These cases were identified from 3,063 tests that were completed by Nova Scotia Health labs on Saturday.

Protest at N.S.-N.B. border

Meanwhile, a demonstration protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truckers has reduced traffic to one lane at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border Sunday afternoon.

Nova Scotia and New Brunswick RCMP were at the border "to promote public safety" and keep the peace. 

Cpl. Deepak Prasad said there were up to 70 vehicles at one point moving at slow speed on Highway 104. Traffic was tied up in both directions.

By 1:55 p.m., the RCMP said traffic was moving freely at the border again.

Atlantic Canada case numbers

• Prince Edward Island reported one new death and nine people in hospital on Sunday, with one in ICU. There were 209 new cases, with 2,484 active cases.
• New Brunswick reported two deaths and 126 hospitalizations Sunday, including 10 ICU cases. New Brunswick now has 209 COVID-19 deaths. The province reported 545 new cases on Sunday for a total of 5,256 active cases.
• Newfoundland and Labrador reported Sunday that 19 people are in hospital due to COVID-19. There are 361 new cases and 2,656 active cases.