The Nova Scotia government has launched a new web page which it says has important information that will help local businesses reopen.
Premier Stephen McNeil announced the launch of “Preparing to Reopen Nova Scotia” during Tuesday’s press briefing, adding that the province’s goal is still to reopen the economy in “early June.”
“It will answer a number of questions. It will help with the how-to,” McNeil said.
The province says the web page has useful information for businesses forced to close due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Government of Nova Scotia
READ MORE: Coronavirus: Nova Scotia identifies 1 new case, no deaths for 3rd day in a row
The province has still not released a fixed date on when they plan to officially reopen the economy, only saying they’ll be providing more details this week.
2 new cases, 1 new death in Nova Scotia
The province announced one additional death connected to the novel coronavirus and two additional cases.
The death involved a woman in her 80s with underlying medical conditions in the province’s central zone who was not a resident of a long-term care home.
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There have now been 59 deaths connected to COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.
The two new cases in Nova Scotia brings the province’s total to 1,052. There was a total of 1,051 cases on Monday.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia reports 1 new case of COVID-19 as active cases continue to shrink
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief public health officer, confirmed that a false positive test resulted in the discrepancy.
“The testing that has been done by the lab is very accurate, but no test is perfect,” Strang said. “That means there’s only a chance for a test to have an inaccurate or indeterminate result.”
Of the 1,052 total cases, 17 remain active. Northwood, the only long-term care home in Nova Scotia with active COVID-19 cases, currently has 11 residents and four staff active cases.
The QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab completed 573 Nova Scotia tests on Monday. To date, Nova Scotia has had 38,999 negative test results.
A total of 976 cases are now deemed recovered.
Questions about COVID-19? Here are some things you need to know:
Symptoms can include fever, cough and difficulty breathing — very similar to a cold or flu. Some people can develop a more severe illness. People most at risk of this include older adults and people with severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung or kidney disease. If you develop symptoms, contact public health authorities.
To prevent the virus from spreading, experts recommend frequent handwashing and coughing into your sleeve. They also recommend minimizing contact with others, staying home as much as possible and maintaining a distance of two metres from other people if you go out. In situations where you can’t keep a safe distance from others, public health officials recommend the use of a non-medical face mask or covering to prevent spreading the respiratory droplets that can carry the virus.
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