Nova Scotia reports 3 COVID-19 deaths Monday

Nova Scotia reported three deaths and 59 people in hospital due to COVID-19 on Monday.

The deaths include a man in his 60s in the eastern zone, a man in his 70s in the northern zone, and a man in his 80s in the central zone. All three contracted COVID-19 during the Omicron wave, the province said in a news release.

Two of the 59 people in hospital are in intensive care. The province also reported 19 people have been discharged from the hospital since its last update on Jan. 7, and 29 were newly admitted.

The ages of people in hospital range from 31 to 100 years old, and the average age is 69.

From Jan. 8 to Jan. 9, 69 of 1,982 positive lab results were repeat positives, the province noted.

The vaccination status of those in hospital is:

• Seven (11.9 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
• Thirty-five (59.3 per cent) are fully vaccinated (two doses). 
• Two (3.4 per cent) are partially vaccinated.
• Fifteen (25.4 per cent) are unvaccinated.

According to the province's COVID-19 dashboard, 82.9 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated, while 7.2 per cent has only received their first dose. Less than 10 per cent of Nova Scotians are unvaccinated.

The province reported 816 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with 526 cases in central zone, 110 cases in eastern zone, 70 cases in northern zone and 110 cases in western zone. The province estimated there were 6,906 active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia as of Monday.

Online learning begins

Nova Scotia schools went online starting Monday while in-person classes were delayed a week because of the ongoing spike in cases of the Omicron variant. 

The decision to delay in-person classes has been controversial, with some arguing whether the risk of COVID-19 or more time out of the classroom poses the greater risk to children. 

Dr. Tracey Vaillancourt, chair of a national COVID-19 taskforce based in Ottawa, has been studying the impacts of remote work on children. 

She told CBC's Maritime Connection on Sunday the research shows children are better off in school. 

Her group made many recommendations for testing, ventilation, smaller classes, better masks and prioritizing teachers for boosters. However, she said across the country, the measures still haven't been widely adopted. 

"So my frustration is, we give them all the evidence and it was pretty much ignored. And I don't know if there was no anticipation that another variant would rip through our country, I don't know what happened, but here we are today and I'm frustrated, and parents are frustrated and kids are frustrated," said Vaillancourt.

Vaillancourt said governments should be doing everything they can to make sure schools can reopen as soon as possible.

Atlantic Canada case numbers

• Newfoundland and Labrador reported two deaths and four people in hospital on Monday. There were also 1,135 new cases, including an additional 689 that were from a testing backlog between Dec. 29 and Jan. 6. There are 5,955 active cases. 
• Prince Edward Island reported 320 new cases of COVID-19 Monday. There were 1,517 active cases as of Friday. Five people are in hospital being treated for COVID-19, one in intensive care. 
• New Brunswick reported one death and 201 new cases on Sunday. There are 79 people in hospital, including 16 in intensive care.