Nova Scotia reports 37 new cases, further restrictions
Nova Scotia reported 37 new COVID-19 infections on Tuesday and clamped down on restrictions amid the spike in cases.
It's the largest single-day increase since April. This brings the total number of active cases in the province to 87.
Thirty-five of the new cases are in the central health zone.
One case is in the northern zone and is related to an exposure in the central. The Department of Health also confirmed a case in the western health zone at the Northeast Kings Education Centre. The person was not in school Tuesday and is self-isolating. The school will be closed for cleaning until Monday.
"If you haven't woken up to the second wave, this is your wake-up call," said Premier Stephen Mcneil in a news briefing Tuesday.
There have been 118 cases
identified in November so far, 72 per cent of which are in the 18-35 age group. Most cases are in the Halifax Regional Municipality.
In a news release, the
Department of Health and Wellness announced new restrictions that will come into force at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 26, and continue for two weeks until midnight Dec. 9, with a possibility of extension. The restrictions apply in western and central HRM. The area encompasses Hubbards to the Halifax peninsula. It also includes Bedford, Sackville, Mount Uniacke, and the areas from Fall river to Enfield and Elmsdale and from Dartmouth to Porters Lake.
The following establishments will be closed:
• all licensed restaurants and bars will be closed for inperson dining but may provide take-out or delivery
• organized sports, recreational, athletic, arts and cultural activities, and faithbased activities will be paused
• profit and non-profit fitness and recreational facilities, including gyms, pools, and rinks
• libraries and museums, including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia
• the casino and First Nations gaming establishments.
Gathering limits continue to be five people, but there will be stronger enforcement when people break the rule.
"You can't have a house party, but if you decide to, (and) take a collection at the door to pay the $1,000 fine, well, we change the rules," said Mcneil.
As of midnight Wednesday, all attendees of a party will be ticketed for a total fine of $1,000.
Shopping malls and retail stores will be required to restrict shoppers and staff to 25 per cent or less of
allowable capacity.
"We're doing this because we know that crowded shopping spaces are one of the areas of significant concern," said Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health.
"It's also an important reminder for people who live in Halifax and all Nova Scotians ... that you should be focusing on essential shopping only."
Strang said non-essential activities that require travel into and out of Halifax and Hants county are not allowed. This includes sports teams travelling for games and people going shopping.
"If you are a hockey team base in Halifax ... there's no practices, no games," said Strang. "If you are planning to go to the tournament in Cape Breton this weekend, I'm sorry, but you're staying home."
Schools and after-school programs will also continue
running, but activities that require travel between schools are discouraged.
Masks will also become mandatory in common spaces of apartment buildings, condos and other multi-unit residential buildings.
NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR ALL OF NOVA SCOTIA
Strang also announced restrictions that will apply across Nova Scotia, and won't be limited to the Halifax and Hants counties:
• there will be no visitors except volunteers and designated caregivers to long-term care facilities and Adult Residential Centres and Regional Rehabilitation Centres licensed by the Department of Community Services
• sports teams are restricted to local or regional play only
• no extracurricular activities between schools.
Staff, volunteers, and desig
nated caregivers at long-term facilities in HRM will undergo voluntary, bi-weekly testing. Testing will be phased-in starting Nov. 27.
Strang said all the restrictions will help curb the spread of COVID-19, but we won't see the impact reflected in case numbers immediately.
"Because of the incubation period of the virus, we are going to see the high numbers continue for the next week to 10 days," he said. "The cases we reported yesterday and today are a result of things happening a week to two weeks ago."
He added that we might see cases outside HRM and in long-term care facilities.
Nova Scotia Health Authority's labs completed 1,561 Nova Scotia tests on Nov. 23.
In less than two months, Nova Scotia has had 35,188 negative test results and 138 positive COVID-19 cases. No one is currently in hospital.