Nova Scotia hits 30 COVID-19 deaths this month
CBC
Nova Scotia reported three new COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing to 30 the total number of deaths this month due to the virus.
The new deaths announced Wednesday include a woman in her 80s in central zone, a man in his 80s in the central zone and a man in his 90s in the eastern zone.
"We've suffered significant loss of life since our last COVID-19 briefing," Premier Tim Houston said.
Thirteen people have died from COVID-19 this week.
"While it's true most Nova Scotians who have died during this wave were primarily older with underlying health conditions, that doesn't mean we do not need to be cautious," Nova Scotia Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang said. "Just the opposite. The elderly in our communities need to be valued and protected by the rest of us."
Strang said the reason there have been so many Omicron deaths when the variant has been described as mild is because of the extent of the spread.
Strang said current restrictions will remain in place until at least Feb. 14. The province is looking at lifting restrictions in a "phased approach," he said, and will keep monitoring cases and hospitalizations.
Houston said there is a path toward loosening COVID-19 restrictions, but not until next month. He said the province is looking at loosening restrictions for sports and arts and culture events some time in February.
The timeline is not dependant on government but it's dependant on the positive momentum of the booster campaign, the number of hospitalizations and overall stress on the health-care system, Houston said.
On Wednesday, the province reported 91 people in designated COVID-19 hospital units, including 15 in intensive care.
In total, there were 312 people in hospital with COVID-19:
There are two children in hospital with COVID-19, but they were admitted for another reason, Houston said.
The average age of people in hospital is 67, a news release from the province said. Of the 91 people hospitalized for COVID-19, 88 were admitted during the Omicron wave.
Currently, unvaccinated Nova Scotians are about four times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than someone with two doses of vaccine. That is based on average hospitalizations since the province started releasing the daily hospitalization numbers by vaccine status on Jan. 4.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
A suspended Moncton structural engineer faces more lawsuits alleging design flaws in buildings that require repair.
Sajjade Tugano has come a long way since he first set foot in Chibougamau, six hours north of Quebec City, in the depths of winter in November 2021.
A national mentor-based hockey organization that helps marginalized youth through the sport is paying tribute to one of its members and youngest coaches.
After months of asking the City of Saskatoon to do more to solve its homelessness crisis, advocate David Fineday took to the stand at city council Tuesday.
A community organization wants to breathe new life into a historic building in Regina.
Some Prince County residents are walking away with more answers after attending Tuesday night's public information session in Albany, P.E.I., on the Wejipek Wind Project.
After just a few months of using vape detectors in a couple of bathrooms, a B.C. high school principal says it's reduced vape use in those areas to basically zero.
Burlington MP Karina Gould gets boost from local young people after entering Liberal leadership race
A day after entering the Liberal leadership race, Burlington, Ont., MP and government House leader Karina Gould was cheered at a campaign launch party by local residents — including young people expressing hope the 37-year-old politician will represent their voices.
Anold Mulaisho was born intersex and wonders where they fit in, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump's executive order for the United States to recognize only two sexes, male and female.
WARNING: This story contains references to suicide.
Subway service is down on Line 1 between Sheppard West and Lawrence West due to a broken power rail, the TTC said Wednesday morning.
A long-term care home in Toronto's Yorkville neighbourhood has cleared one more hurdle to add desperately needed beds to its property, a move that's been praised by housing advocates but opposed by locals concerned about the impact on the neighbourhood.
A Charlottetown resident is calling on the P.E.I. government to do more to protect homeowners after reading about a recent oil spill very similar to one on his Montague property 20 years ago, which he says ruined him financially.
WARNING: This story includes details of abuse.
Two years after Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly declared she was taking the unprecedented step of moving to confiscate millions of dollars from a sanctioned Russian oligarch with assets in Canada, the government has not actually begun the court process to forfeit the money, let alone to hand it over to Ukrainian reconstruction — and it may never happen.
Alberta business and oilpatch leaders are returning home from Washington this week after the U.S. presidential inauguration festivities — and gritting their teeth after a roller-coaster of emotions.
Youth workers in Toronto's Jane and Finch area are flipping the script on negative stereotypes about their communities with a new fundraising campaign that offers anti-bias training in exchange for donations to bolster their programming.
In a sudden move that came late Tuesday evening, city officials rolled out cots and temporarily opened a warm building in east London as frigid temperatures continued.