N.S. reports 5 deaths in weekly COVID-19 update
Daily average of 249 cases for the 7-day period between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8
Nova Scotia is reporting five new COVID-19 deaths for the seven-day period ending Monday.
In its weekly update on Thursday, the province reported a daily average of 249 new cases for the week of Aug. 2 to Aug. 8.
According to Nova Scotia Health, there were 316 patients in hospitals across the province positive for COVID-19 — an increase of nearly 12 per cent compared to last week. That number includes:
- 46 patients admitted for treatment of COVID-19 symptoms (seven in ICU).
- 163 patients admitted for treatment of another health issue but tested positive for COVID-19.
- 107 patients who contracted COVID-19 after admission to hospital.
There were fewer than five children admitted to the IWK hospital due to COVID-19 symptoms as of Thursday. The IWK reported 65 staff off work and 17 isolating.
Nova Scotia Health reported 241 employees off work on Thursday due to being diagnosed as positive for COVID-19, awaiting results of a COVID-19 test, or being exposed to a member of their household who tested positive for COVID-19.
Canada's public health officials have warned of an increase in hospitalizations as the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant BA.5 circulates around the globe while provinces have lifted mask mandates and ended other measures.
Nova Scotia had a total of 1,741 lab-confirmed cases in its latest update to the provincial dashboard.
On July 6, the province limited who can access to PCR tests to select groups who are symptomatic, including people over 50, front-line health care workers and immunocompromised people. People who test positive on a rapid test can no longer have their result confirmed via a PCR test.
Patients sick with COVID-19 who are admitted to hospital in Nova Scotia are no longer being treated separately from patients who don't have it.
Since March 2020, there have been 473 COVID-19 deaths in Nova Scotia.
