
Visitor restrictions expanded at several N.S. hospitals amid high COVID-19 case numbers
CBC
Visitor restrictions have been expanded to in-patients and long-term care residents at several hospitals in Nova Scotia's northern zone, as the province continues to report high daily COVID-19 case counts.
In a news release Friday, Nova Scotia Health said the changes are needed to reduce the risk of the virus being introduced or spread within its facilities.
As of Friday, in-patients and long-term care residents at the following sites are not allowed to have visitors:
Each resident is permitted to have two designated caregivers. Some exceptions may be made for patients in palliative care.
These changes are among the many being made at Nova Scotia Health facilities and hospitals as case numbers climb.
On Saturday, the province is reported 1,145 new cases of COVID-19.
There are 598 new cases in the central health zone, 240 in the eastern zone, 180 in the western zone and 127 in the northern zone.
The province is issuing abbreviated updates over the weekend that do not include current hospitalization numbers.
Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, said earlier this week that the province would be focusing more on hospitalizations rather than case numbers during this Omicron-driven wave of the pandemic.
As of Friday, there were 48 people in hospital with the virus, including seven in intensive care.
The hospitalization numbers are well below those from last spring's COVID-19 wave. There were more than 100 people in hospital in Nova Scotia due to the virus last May.
Nova Scotia Health labs completed 7,437 tests on Friday.

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