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N.S. confirms 20 new COVID-19 cases; will release map of cases soon – CTV News

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HALIFAX —
Nova Scotia announced 20 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in the province to 147.

Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, said Tuesday that 96 per cent of the confirmed cases are travel-related or are connected to a known case of the novel coronavirus.

One case cannot be linked to travel or another case, confirming community spread of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

“We have concluded that this is the result of transmission within the community,” said Strang during Tuesday’s news conference.

“We have a handful of other cases that are still under investigation to determine where they may have been exposed.”

COVID-19 in long-term care facilities

A total of four staff members and two residents at three separate long-term care facilities have tested positive for the virus.  

A spokesperson with Rosecrest Communities, which runs The Magnolia continuing care home in Enfield, N.S., confirmed to CTV News that two residents and two staff members at the facility have tested positive for COVID-19.

Strang said Tuesday that one resident is mildly ill, while the second is asymptomatic.

He also said all residents at The Magnolia have been tested for COVID-19 and testing of staff is underway.

A staff member at the R.K. MacDonald Nursing Home in Antigonish, N.S., has also been infected with the virus, along with an employee at Lewis Hall, a private retirement community in Dartmouth, N.S.

Strang said infection prevention and control measures are in place for residents and staff at the facilities. He also said residents are being closely monitored and there is no other reported illness at this time.

“It’s concerning, but I think we’ve done everything we could do to limit the possibility of introduction and we have robust plans of responding, like we’ve seen in the last few days, if we get COVID-19 in long-term care facilities,” said Strang.

As for the province’s 147 cases, the infected individuals range in age from under 10 to over 80.

Ten people have recovered from the virus and their cases are considered resolved.

Province to release map of COVID-19 cases

The provincial government hasn’t been releasing details about where cases are located, only saying there are cases of COVID-19 identified across the province.

However, Strang said Tuesday that the province will start providing some information about where cases are located soon.

“There will be a map, the four health zones of Nova Scotia, and numbers of cases that are in each health zone,” he said. “We didn’t want to do that until we had at least five cases in each of those zones.”

Strang said the map will be available online, but there are still some technical difficulties to work out.

Public health is working to identify people who may have come in close contact with the confirmed cases. Those people are being directed to self-isolate at home, away from the public, for 14 days.

Anyone who travelled outside Nova Scotia must also self-isolate for 14 days.

‘Stay home as much as possible’

Strang also reiterated the importance of adhering to the public health orders and directives, such as staying home as much as possible, practising physical-distancing, and limiting essential gatherings to no more than five people.

“I used the word essential gatherings and I mean essential gatherings. This is not a time to be getting together just because you want to. You get together with five or less people if it’s necessary to do so,” said Strang.

“The simple message is stay at home as much as possible … this is how we’re going to stop the spread of this virus. This is how we’re going to get out of this as quickly as we can.”

Any Nova Scotian who develops symptoms such as fever, a new cough or acute respiratory illness, should limit their contact with others and use the online assessment tool before calling 811.

Anyone referred to an assessment site by 811 will be tested.

Strang said Tuesday that everyone who is tested for COVID-19 will receive a call with their result, whether it is positive or negative. It may take 48 to 72 hours to get the result.

To date, there have been 5,763 negative test results.

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Health

Canada to donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to combat mpox outbreaks in Africa

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The Canadian government says it will donate up to 200,000 vaccine doses to fight the mpox outbreak in Congo and other African countries.

It says the donated doses of Imvamune will come from Canada’s existing supply and will not affect the country’s preparedness for mpox cases in this country.

Minister of Health Mark Holland says the donation “will help to protect those in the most affected regions of Africa and will help prevent further spread of the virus.”

Dr. Madhukar Pai, Canada research chair in epidemiology and global health, says although the donation is welcome, it is a very small portion of the estimated 10 million vaccine doses needed to control the outbreak.

Vaccine donations from wealthier countries have only recently started arriving in Africa, almost a month after the World Health Organization declared the mpox outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

A few days after the declaration in August, Global Affairs Canada announced a contribution of $1 million for mpox surveillance, diagnostic tools, research and community awareness in Africa.

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said mpox is still on the rise and that testing rates are “insufficient” across the continent.

Jason Kindrachuk, Canada research chair in emerging viruses at the University of Manitoba, said donating vaccines, in addition to supporting surveillance and diagnostic tests, is “massively important.”

But Kindrachuk, who has worked on the ground in Congo during the epidemic, also said that the international response to the mpox outbreak is “better late than never (but) better never late.”

“It would have been fantastic for us globally to not be in this position by having provided doses a much, much longer time prior than when we are,” he said, noting that the outbreak of clade I mpox in Congo started in early 2023.

Clade II mpox, endemic in regions of West Africa, came to the world’s attention even earlier — in 2022 — as that strain of virus spread to other countries, including Canada.

Two doses are recommended for mpox vaccination, so the donation may only benefit 100,000 people, Pai said.

Pai questioned whether Canada is contributing enough, as the federal government hasn’t said what percentage of its mpox vaccine stockpile it is donating.

“Small donations are simply not going to help end this crisis. We need to show greater solidarity and support,” he said in an email.

“That is the biggest lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic — our collective safety is tied with that of other nations.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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