Nova Scotia Premier Tim Houston and chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang will hold a COVID-19 briefing at 3 p.m. today.
Saltwire.com will carry the government’s livestream of the briefing, which will likely address the number of people who have died from COVID-19 in recent days.
The virus has claimed 136 lives in Nova Scotia since the pandemic began two years ago. There have been 17 deaths reported just since Jan. 18.
There are now 92 people in hospital including 15 in ICU.
The spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant has driven a spike in COVID-19 activity in Nova Scotia. There are an estimated 4,250 active cases of COVID-19 in the province.
The pandemic has sparked a staffing crunch in the health-care system. Hundreds are off work because they’ve contracted COVID-19 or are isolating because they’re close contacts of people with the virus.
As a result, many Nova Scotians have had their surgeries or other medical procedures delayed or cancelled.
There also have been concerns about students returning to in-person classes given the case spike and lack of information about the level of COVID-19 in schools. The province and some medical officials have said the benefits of students being in school outweight the risks of COVID-19.
