Hospitals in Nova Scotia are reporting a significant spike in the number of patients testing positive for COVID-19.
As of Thursday, there are a total of 260 patients in hospitals across the province who have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Nova Scotia Health. This number includes:
- 45 patients were admitted for treatment of symptoms of COVID-19 (nine in ICU).
- 143 patients were admitted for treatment of another health problem but tested positive for COVID-19.
- 72 patients who recovered from COVID-19 after admission to hospital.
That’s an increase of 64 patients from last week, one of the largest weekly increases reported at Nova Scotia hospitals since the pandemic began.
There are fewer than five children admitted to IWK Hospital due to symptoms of COVID-19 as of Thursday.
Public health officials in Canada warned of an increase in hospitalizations as the highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 subvariant circulated around the world, while provinces lifted mask-wearing mandates and ended measures designed to contain the spread of the virus.
Nova Scotia reports 5 new deaths
Nova Scotia is reporting five new deaths from COVID-19 and a daily average of 272 laboratory-confirmed cases in its latest provincial dashboard update.
The figures are for a seven-day period from July 19 to July 25.
Positive PCR tests totaled 1,910, a slight increase from last week. This number does not include positive rapid test results.
On July 6, the province restricted who can access PCR tests to select groups with symptoms, including people over 50, frontline health workers and immunocompromised people. People with a positive result from a rapid test can no longer have their result confirmed by a PCR test.
As of March 2020, there have been 468 deaths from COVID-19 in Nova Scotia. About three-quarters of these deaths occurred during the Omicron wave, which began on December 8, 2021.
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