Nova Scotia records 59th death related to COVID-19 pandemic, and two new cases

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This article was published 26/05/2020 (2028 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

HALIFAX – Nova Scotia is still on target to reopen sections of its economy early next month, Premier Stephen McNeil said Tuesday, as the province reported two new cases of COVID-19 and one more death related to the viral infection.

The province’s death toll rose to 59 after a woman in her 80s with underlying medical conditions succumbed to the illness.

Nova Scotia’s overall daily cases have fallen off in recent weeks and McNeil said that will remain key as the province moves forward with a plan to reopen businesses shuttered by health restrictions.

“It all depends on our cases staying low,” said McNeil. “I know that we are moving more slowly than other provinces, but … this is not a race.”

The premier pointed out that some provinces have opened parts of their economy and were forced to either close up again or delay subsequent opening plans because of a resurgence of the virus.

“We may end up with a similar problem, but it won’t be because we went too fast, too soon,” McNeil said.

He said although consultations continue with the business sector, the province would have more to say about a potential early-June opening later this week.

“Our opening, though, will have restrictions. We will monitor how it’s going with public health as our lens and we will continue to test strategically,” McNeil said.

McNeil said the opening will be carried out with the goal of preventing a spike in COVID-19 cases in order to keep businesses operating.

“We want to make sure that when you make your investment to reopen your business, that we will not have to close you as we move forward,” he said.

Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said the two new reported cases were known contacts of a previous case.

“So we know how they got exposed and there’s no indication that they were exposed in general community exposure, which is good news,” said Strang.

As of Tuesday, Nova Scotia had recorded 1,052 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Seven people were being treated in hospital — three of them in intensive care — and 976 people have recovered.

Meanwhile, the Nova Scotia Health Authority announced that it had begun to reintroduce programs, services and a number of patient procedures that were suspended due to COVID-19.

It said key areas where services would resume included outpatient clinics for such things as wound care, electrocardiograms and orthopedic assessment.

There would also be a gradual increase for a number of procedures including CT scans, MRI and ultrasound at departments across the province.

Work was also being done to reintroduce day surgeries and outpatient procedures such as cataract surgeries and endoscopy.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2020.