Nova Scotia has further eased gathering limits on events held by businesses and organizations amid the continuing low rates of COVID-19 in the province.
Effective July 3, outdoor gatherings organized by recognized businesses or organizations can host up to 250 people, while Indoor events will be restricted to 50 per cent capacity to a maximum of 200 people. Physical distancing rules must be in place under both circumstances.
The expanded gathering limits apply to social events, faith gatherings, weddings and funerals, and arts and culture events such as theatre performances,dance recitals, festivals and concerts.
“We’ve now had more than two weeks with no new cases of COVID-19, and Nova Scotians are getting back to normal activities while maintaining precautions,” said Premier Stephen McNeil in a news release.
“Continuing the core measures of physical distancing and hand hygiene is how we will keep our case numbers low, especially as we increase gathering limits and welcome Atlantic Canadian visitors to Nova Scotia.”
Gatherings not run by a recognized business or organization, for example a family event in the backyard, are still subject to the 50-person maximum limit with physical distancing, unless you’re in your close social group of 10, the news release said.
Other changes:
Effective immediately, restaurants and licensed liquor establishments can operate at 100 per cent capacity and serve patrons until midnight with appropriate distancing between tables. Patrons must leave by 1 a.m. They must continue to follow their sector plans
private campgrounds can operate at 100 per cent capacity. They must continue to follow their industry sector plan
public pools can reopen with physical distancing for lane swimming and aquafit classes, and one or more groups of 10 for other activities based on pool size. They must follow the Nova Scotia Lifesaving Society plan for change rooms and washrooms. It will take municipalities and other public pools time to prepare for reopening
people living in homes funded by disability support programs can resume going out into their communities, although it may take time for homes to make arrangements
Guidelines for these types of events are available here.
People can continue to gather in close social groups of up to 10 without physical distancing, the release said.
“People in a group are not required to be exclusive but they are strongly encouraged to maintain a consistent group. People should not gather in random or spontaneous groups of 10.”
Businesses that are too small to ensure physical distancing can still have no more than 10 people on their premises at a time with as much physical distancing as possible.
Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, has returned to work after recovering from skin cancer surgery in New Brunswick. At a news conference with the premier Friday, he said he now strongly recommends that people wear masks when social distancing isn’t possible.
“If you go to a grocery store or some other kind of retailer, and if you’re in the mall, if you’re on a bus or if you’re going to gatherings, unless you can be a hundred per cent sure that that you’re going to be able to maintain distance, you should be having a medical mask and and and using that (mask).
“I cannot I can’t emphasize this enough, it’s critically important that people understand this, that the tools we have used to flatten the curve in the first wave are the same tools that we need to continue to apply to minimize the impact of any future appearance of COVID-19 and there will be appearance of COVID-19.”
– Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health
“So it’s important that Nova Scotians have a medical mask, that they carry it with them at all times, and that they use it where when it’s necessary and appropriate.”
Strang said exceptions to this recommendation are children under two and people who have medical reasons for not wearing a mask.
The premier admitted there have been times when he hasn’t worn a mask when he should have.
“When someone is wearing a mask they are protecting me and others. So I need to do the same for them.”
Strang said it’s inevitable that COVID-19 will return to the province. Adhering to public health protocols such as physical distancing, respecting gathering rules, hand hygiene, cough etiquette and wearing a mask when distancing isn’t possible will allow us to contain those outbreaks.
“It’s now as we as we strengthen and further open things it’s even more important to continue with the public health protocols,” he said. “And I cannot I can’t emphasize this enough, it’s critically important that people understand this, that the tools we have used to flatten the curve in the first wave are the same tools that we need to continue to apply to minimize the impact of any future appearance of COVID-19 and there will be appearance of COVID-19.”
A microscopic image of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. – Postmedia NewsA microscopic image of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. – Postmedia News
No new cases again
Earlier Friday, Nova Scotia announced it has extended the state of emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic even though there have been no new cases since June 9.
The province is extending the emergency until July 12 to protect the health and safety of Nova Scotia, and ensure the safe re-opening of businesses and services. the Health Department said in a news release.
The province has the option of terminating or extending the order further before that date.
A batch of 468 tests conducted at the QEII Health Sciences Centre’s microbiology lab all turned out negative. There are no active cases in the province.
To date, Nova Scotia has 52,553 negative test results, 1,061 positive COVID-19 cases and 63 deaths. Nine-hundred and ninety-eight cases are now resolved. Two former COVID-19 patients remain in hospital being treated for other reasons. Neither are in intensive care.
If you have any symptoms such as fever or worsening cough, and particularly if you have unusual symptoms such as red or purple lesions on your feet, toes or fingers, visit https://811.novascotia.ca to determine if you should call 811 for further assessment.
In other COVID-19 news Friday, the Nova Scotia Health Authority said as of June 21, of the scheduled surgeries that were postponed as a result of the pandemic, 48 per cent have been completed or rescheduled.
The week before COVID-19 service changes began, surgeons completed 1,407 operations. But with only urgent, emergency and time-sensitive cancer surgeries taking place, these numbers dropped significantly over the past number of months, to roughly one-third of our normal surgery volumes, the NSHA said in a newsletter.
“Our surgical teams have worked to prioritize cases and increase our capacity so that as many patients as possible can get the surgery they need,” the newsletter said. “We have made adjustments to how we deliver and schedule services to allow for more surgery, while maintaining COVID-19 precautions.”
The NSHA said it’s gradually increasing access to endoscopy services across its various sites. Between May 18-24, before the current service increase, 89 endoscopies were done, which represents about 12 per cent of the cases done in the same week last year. After services were expanded, between June 15 and June 21, 563 endoscopies were completed (65% of cases compared to the same week in 2019). That represents an increase of 532 per cent since service reintroduction began, the newsletter said.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Whooping cough is at its highest level in a decade for this time of year, U.S. health officials reported Thursday.
There have been 18,506 cases of whooping cough reported so far, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. That’s the most at this point in the year since 2014, when cases topped 21,800.
The increase is not unexpected — whooping cough peaks every three to five years, health experts said. And the numbers indicate a return to levels before the coronavirus pandemic, when whooping cough and other contagious illnesses plummeted.
Still, the tally has some state health officials concerned, including those in Wisconsin, where there have been about 1,000 cases so far this year, compared to a total of 51 last year.
Nationwide, CDC has reported that kindergarten vaccination rates dipped last year and vaccine exemptions are at an all-time high. Thursday, it released state figures, showing that about 86% of kindergartners in Wisconsin got the whooping cough vaccine, compared to more than 92% nationally.
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, usually starts out like a cold, with a runny nose and other common symptoms, before turning into a prolonged cough. It is treated with antibiotics. Whooping cough used to be very common until a vaccine was introduced in the 1950s, which is now part of routine childhood vaccinations. It is in a shot along with tetanus and diphtheria vaccines. The combo shot is recommended for adults every 10 years.
“They used to call it the 100-day cough because it literally lasts for 100 days,” said Joyce Knestrick, a family nurse practitioner in Wheeling, West Virginia.
Whooping cough is usually seen mostly in infants and young children, who can develop serious complications. That’s why the vaccine is recommended during pregnancy, to pass along protection to the newborn, and for those who spend a lot of time with infants.
But public health workers say outbreaks this year are hitting older kids and teens. In Pennsylvania, most outbreaks have been in middle school, high school and college settings, an official said. Nearly all the cases in Douglas County, Nebraska, are schoolkids and teens, said Justin Frederick, deputy director of the health department.
That includes his own teenage daughter.
“It’s a horrible disease. She still wakes up — after being treated with her antibiotics — in a panic because she’s coughing so much she can’t breathe,” he said.
It’s important to get tested and treated with antibiotics early, said Dr. Kris Bryant, who specializes in pediatric infectious diseases at Norton Children’s in Louisville, Kentucky. People exposed to the bacteria can also take antibiotics to stop the spread.
“Pertussis is worth preventing,” Bryant said. “The good news is that we have safe and effective vaccines.”
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AP data journalist Kasturi Pananjady contributed to this report.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
How a sperm and egg fuse together has long been a mystery.
New research by scientists in Austria provides tantalizing clues, showing fertilization works like a lock and key across the animal kingdom, from fish to people.
“We discovered this mechanism that’s really fundamental across all vertebrates as far as we can tell,” said co-author Andrea Pauli at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna.
The team found that three proteins on the sperm join to form a sort of key that unlocks the egg, allowing the sperm to attach. Their findings, drawn from studies in zebrafish, mice, and human cells, show how this process has persisted over millions of years of evolution. Results were published Thursday in the journal Cell.
Scientists had previously known about two proteins, one on the surface of the sperm and another on the egg’s membrane. Working with international collaborators, Pauli’s lab used Google DeepMind’s artificial intelligence tool AlphaFold — whose developers were awarded a Nobel Prize earlier this month — to help them identify a new protein that allows the first molecular connection between sperm and egg. They also demonstrated how it functions in living things.
It wasn’t previously known how the proteins “worked together as a team in order to allow sperm and egg to recognize each other,” Pauli said.
Scientists still don’t know how the sperm actually gets inside the egg after it attaches and hope to delve into that next.
Eventually, Pauli said, such work could help other scientists understand infertility better or develop new birth control methods.
The work provides targets for the development of male contraceptives in particular, said David Greenstein, a genetics and cell biology expert at the University of Minnesota who was not involved in the study.
The latest study “also underscores the importance of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry,” he said in an email.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
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