Nova Scotia expands gathering limits for businesses, organizations - The Journal Pioneer | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Health

Nova Scotia expands gathering limits for businesses, organizations – The Journal Pioneer

Published

 on


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 News
A 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. 

A full list of symptoms and other COVID-19 information is available at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus.

Surgery schedule gets busier

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. 

Let’s block ads! (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Health

What’s the greatest holiday gift: lips, hair, skin? Give the gift of great skin this holiday season

Published

 on

Give the gift of great skin this holiday season

Skinstitut Holiday Gift Kits take the stress out of gifting

Toronto, October 31, 2024 – Beauty gifts are at the top of holiday wish lists this year, and Laser Clinics Canada, a leader in advanced beauty treatments and skincare, is taking the pressure out of seasonal shopping. Today, Laser Clincs Canada announces the arrival of its 2024 Holiday Gift Kits, courtesy of Skinstitut, the exclusive skincare line of Laser Clinics Group.

In time for the busy shopping season, the limited-edition Holiday Gifts Kits are available in Laser Clinics locations in the GTA and Ottawa. Clinics are conveniently located in popular shopping centers, including Hillcrest Mall, Square One, CF Sherway Gardens, Scarborough Town Centre, Rideau Centre, Union Station and CF Markville. These limited-edition Kits are available on a first come, first served basis.

“These kits combine our best-selling products, bundled to address the most relevant skin concerns we’re seeing among our clients,” says Christina Ho, Senior Brand & LAM Manager at Laser Clinics Canada. “With several price points available, the kits offer excellent value and suit a variety of gift-giving needs, from those new to cosmeceuticals to those looking to level up their skincare routine. What’s more, these kits are priced with a savings of up to 33 per cent so gift givers can save during the holiday season.

There are two kits to select from, each designed to address key skin concerns and each with a unique theme — Brightening Basics and Hydration Heroes.

Brightening Basics is a mix of everyday essentials for glowing skin for all skin types. The bundle comes in a sleek pink, reusable case and includes three full-sized products: 200ml gentle cleanser, 50ml Moisture Defence (normal skin) and 30ml1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum. The Brightening Basics kit is available at $129, a saving of 33 per cent.

Hydration Heroes is a mix of hydration essentials and active heroes that cater to a wide variety of clients. A perfect stocking stuffer, this bundle includes four deluxe products: Moisture 15 15 ml Defence for normal skin, 10 ml 1% Hyaluronic Complex Serum, 10 ml Retinol Serum and 50 ml Expert Squalane Cleansing Oil. The kit retails at $59.

In addition to the 2024 Holiday Gifts Kits, gift givers can easily add a Laser Clinic Canada gift card to the mix. Offering flexibility, recipients can choose from a wide range of treatments offered by Laser Clinics Canada, or they can expand their collection of exclusive Skinstitut products.

 

Brightening Basics 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut, available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.

Hydration Heroes 2024 Holiday Gift Kit by Skinstitut – available exclusively at Laser Clincs Canada clinics and online at skinstitut.ca.

Continue Reading

Health

Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Published

 on

 

LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

Source link

Continue Reading

Health

Pediatric group says doctors should regularly screen kids for reading difficulties

Published

 on

 

The Canadian Paediatric Society says doctors should regularly screen children for reading difficulties and dyslexia, calling low literacy a “serious public health concern” that can increase the risk of other problems including anxiety, low self-esteem and behavioural issues, with lifelong consequences.

New guidance issued Wednesday says family doctors, nurses, pediatricians and other medical professionals who care for school-aged kids are in a unique position to help struggling readers access educational and specialty supports, noting that identifying problems early couldhelp kids sooner — when it’s more effective — as well as reveal other possible learning or developmental issues.

The 10 recommendations include regular screening for kids aged four to seven, especially if they belong to groups at higher risk of low literacy, including newcomers to Canada, racialized Canadians and Indigenous Peoples. The society says this can be done in a two-to-three-minute office-based assessment.

Other tips encourage doctors to look for conditions often seen among poor readers such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder; to advocate for early literacy training for pediatric and family medicine residents; to liaise with schools on behalf of families seeking help; and to push provincial and territorial education ministries to integrate evidence-based phonics instruction into curriculums, starting in kindergarten.

Dr. Scott McLeod, one of the authors and chair of the society’s mental health and developmental disabilities committee, said a key goal is to catch kids who may be falling through the cracks and to better connect families to resources, including quicker targeted help from schools.

“Collaboration in this area is so key because we need to move away from the silos of: everything educational must exist within the educational portfolio,” McLeod said in an interview from Calgary, where he is a developmental pediatrician at Alberta Children’s Hospital.

“Reading, yes, it’s education, but it’s also health because we know that literacy impacts health. So I think that a statement like this opens the window to say: Yes, parents can come to their health-care provider to get advice, get recommendations, hopefully start a collaboration with school teachers.”

McLeod noted that pediatricians already look for signs of low literacy in young children by way of a commonly used tool known as the Rourke Baby Record, which offers a checklist of key topics, such as nutrition and developmental benchmarks, to cover in a well-child appointment.

But he said questions about reading could be “a standing item” in checkups and he hoped the society’s statement to medical professionals who care for children “enhances their confidence in being a strong advocate for the child” while spurring partnerships with others involved in a child’s life such as teachers and psychologists.

The guidance said pediatricians also play a key role in detecting and monitoring conditions that often coexist with difficulty reading such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, but McLeod noted that getting such specific diagnoses typically involves a referral to a specialist, during which time a child continues to struggle.

He also acknowledged that some schools can be slow to act without a specific diagnosis from a specialist, and even then a child may end up on a wait list for school interventions.

“Evidence-based reading instruction shouldn’t have to wait for some of that access to specialized assessments to occur,” he said.

“My hope is that (by) having an existing statement or document written by the Canadian Paediatric Society … we’re able to skip a few steps or have some of the early interventions present,” he said.

McLeod added that obtaining specific assessments from medical specialists is “definitely beneficial and advantageous” to know where a child is at, “but having that sort of clear, thorough assessment shouldn’t be a barrier to intervention starting.”

McLeod said the society was partly spurred to act by 2022’s “Right to Read Inquiry Report” from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which made 157 recommendations to address inequities related to reading instruction in that province.

He called the new guidelines “a big reminder” to pediatric providers, family doctors, school teachers and psychologists of the importance of literacy.

“Early identification of reading difficulty can truly change the trajectory of a child’s life.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version