Nova Scotia reports 10 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, all in central zone

Nova Scotia announced 10 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, all in the central health zone. Another new case that will be in Monday's tally is connected to Northeast Kings Education Centre in Canning.

A new case connected to a school in western zone will be in Monday's update

Vernon Ramesar · CBC News · Posted: Nov 29, 2020 12:51 PM EST | Last Updated: November 29, 2020

Nova Scotia reported 125 active COVID-19 cases in Sunday's update. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)

There are 10 new cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 125.

A press release stated that nine of the new cases were in the central health zone and one in the western zone. But a corrected release stated all the cases were in the central zone.

A release later in the day said a new case was discovered Sunday in the western zone and is connected to the Northeast Kings Education Centre in Canning, Kings County.

The school has been closed since the first case connected to it was identified on Nov. 24.

School to stay closed

Northeast Kings will remain closed for the week, according to the release, and students will be supported for remote learning.

The new positive test will be included in the official figures tomorrow.

Nova Scotia labs completed 2,254 tests Saturday.

No one is in hospital in Nova Scotia related to the virus.

An additional 540 tests were administered at a rapid-testing site in Dartmouth. There was one positive case detected and that person was ordered to self-isolate and referred to take a standard test.

Pop-up testing sites do NOT replace testing at COVID assessment centres. If you need a COVID test because of symptoms, travel, exposure notices from public health or worked at/visited a bar in HRM after 10pm, visit <a href="https://t.co/AHTQJUStgZ">https://t.co/AHTQJUStgZ</a> <a href="https://t.co/2POVlzXDh7">https://t.co/2POVlzXDh7</a>
—@HealthNS

Rapid-testing 'pop-up' sites have been operating in Halifax and Dartmouth over the weekend. These sites are for people without symptoms and who have not travelled or been to a place that is the subject of an exposure notice.

The rapid-test is not as accurate as the standard COVID-19 test so anyone testing positive in the rapid-test must then take the standard test to confirm the test results.

The province's case data website has not been updated since Nov. 26. A news release said it is due to a technical problem.

The province announced five new exposure sites Saturday, including businesses in Sydney and Truro.

A full list of exposures in the province can be found here.

Premier Stephen McNeil urged people in the Halifax area to follow the latest guidelines.

"By following the new restrictions in the greater Halifax area, we are working together to contain the spread of the virus," he said in a news release.

New restrictions in effect

New restrictions came into effect Thursday in most of the Halifax Regional Municipality and parts of Hants County.

The restrictions include stopping dine-in service at bars and restaurants and closing gyms, libraries, museums and casinos for at least the next two weeks. Masks are also mandatory in common areas of multi-unit dwellings like apartments and condos.

A list of what's open and closed in the Halifax region can be found here.

Across the province, visitations to long-term care facilities are no longer allowed unless the person is a volunteer or designated caregiver.

All other Atlantic provinces, most recently New Brunswick, have brought back mandatory 14-day self-isolation for travellers. But as of Thursday evening, Nova Scotia's policy on regional travel remained unchanged.

COVID cases in the Atlantic provinces

The latest numbers from the Atlantic provinces are:

New Brunswick reported 14 new cases Sunday and has a total of 119 active cases. Effective midnight Thursday, anyone arriving in the province from all other provinces, including the Atlantic provinces, must self-isolate for 14 days.
Newfoundland and Labrador reported four new cases Sunday and has 36 active cases. Effective Wednesday, anyone arriving in the province from within the Maritimes will have to self-isolate for 14 days.
P.E.I. reported no new cases Sunday and has four active cases. One of the cases announced Saturday is a high school student. The province indicated there will no school closures as a result of this case. As of Tuesday, anyone travelling to P.E.I. from other Atlantic provinces will have to quarantine for two weeks.