Nova Scotia reported 3,118 new laboratory-confirmed cases, 65 hospitalizations and 18 deaths due to COVID-19 during the seven-day period ending May 9. The number of new infections continues to decline since the peak of the current wave in April, and severe results also continue to decline.
“We see viral activity continuing to slow in Nova Scotia, and that’s great news, but the number of hospitalizations and deaths remains high – and it’s important to keep that in mind, even as we make our way from the sixth wave,” he said. Robert Strang, Chief Medical Officer of Health for Nova Scotia. “The late spring of other respiratory viruses that are happening across the country right now – including in Nova Scotia – is another reason to stay vigilant.
The number of COVID-19 cases involving long-term care and residential care is declining this week. There have been more cases of long-term care during the Omicron waves – the fifth and sixth waves of the pandemic – than in previous waves and more than twice as many so far in the current wave as in the fifth. Of these, the number of hospitalizations and deaths remains very low due to the protection provided by vaccines.
Data in this week’s epidemiological report show a link between age and severe outcomes. The risk of hospitalization is about 10 times higher for those aged 70 and over than for those aged 18 to 49, and the risk of death is more than 100 times higher than for those under 50.
Keeping vaccines up to date – receiving all available doses and boosters based on people’s age and health – continues to offer significant protection against severe outcomes. Having at least one booster dose reduces the risk of hospitalization by more than 84 percent and the risk of death by more than 92 percent compared to those who have not been vaccinated or have only one dose. Those who have not been vaccinated or have only one dose of vaccine have more than 13 times higher mortality than those with at least three doses.
A weekly epidemiological summary of COVID-19 is being prepared for the Chief Medical Officer of Health and his team to inform the pandemic province’s response. It tracks weekly trends and focuses on monitoring severe outcomes in key populations. The full report is available here:
For the seven-day period ending May 9:
- there were 3118 new cases confirmed by PCR
- there are 65 new hospitalizations due to COVID-19
- there are 18 deaths from COVID-19 reported in Panorama, the public health information system.
From the beginning of the fifth wave (December 8, 2021):
- the mean age of PCR-confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 42 years
- the average age of hospitalizations is 71 years
- the average age of registered deaths is 81 years.
As of 12 May, 65.2% of Nova Scotians aged 18 and over had received a booster dose and 41,584 people had received a fourth dose of the vaccine.
According to the recommendations of the National Immunization Advisory Committee (NACI), the second booster doses are available to residents of long-term and residential care facilities, those aged 70 and over living in the community, and members of the First Nations communities aged 55 and over. Nova Scotia.
Public health reports of adverse events following immunization with the COVID-19 vaccine in the province. These reports will now be published quarterly. The next report will be published in July and will cover the quarterly period between 1 April and 30 June. Past reports are available here:
Influenza and other respiratory viruses
There is also an increase in flu infections even as the traditional flu season approaches.
For the week ending May 7, 32 new laboratory-confirmed cases of influenza A have been registered in the province, with more than 60 per cent of them in children aged 19 and under. These 32 new cases represent more than a quarter of all reported influenza infections in the 2021-2022 flu season.
The weekly Respiratory Watch report, which includes new flu cases, is available at:
Quick facts:
- the sixth wave of the pandemic began on March 1
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