Nova Scotia is sending out two mobile COVID-19 testing vehicles to facilitate community testing for the disease.
Premier Stephen McNeil and Dr. Robert Strang announced the measure on Tuesday during a video update about the province's pandemic situation.
They also announced 10 new cases were found during 4,138 tests performed on Monday by Nova Scotia Health Authority labs. All the new cases are in the Central Zone.
There were also 275 tests performed at the rapid-testing pop-up site in Halifax and 585 at the pop-up site in Wolfville. No positives were found at either one.
Case at St. Margarets Bay elementary
On Tuesday evening, the Nova Scotia Health Authority reported that a new case of COVID-19 was connected to St. Margarets Bay Elementary School.
The school will be closed Wednesday for deep cleaning. An update on when school will reopen will be communicated to families on Thursday, according to a statement about the case on the school's website.
"We understand families may feel anxious hearing this news," the statement said. "It is natural to want to know more about this case, but to protect the privacy of students and staff, other details including names, will not be released."
All close contacts of the infected person in the school have been identified, the health authority said in a news release.
"Public health's investigation continues, and the close contacts will be notified, tested and asked to self-isolate for 14 days if positive."
'Too early to relax'
The total number of active cases in the province now stands at 142 and no one is in hospital. Strang suggested the age group most affect by Nova Scotia's second wave, those 18 to 35, are either asymptomatic or experiencing mild symptoms.
Strang was encouraged that the daily number of positive cases has remained low and stable.
“That's certainly much better than I expected,” the province's chief medical officer of health said. “And especially when you say that we've significantly increased the amount of testing we've done in the last few days, that is a good sign that we're relatively stable.
“But it's much too early to relax yet.”
Evidence is showing that the disease is spreading through social contacts, Strang said, adding that restrictions imposed last week will stay in place at least until Dec. 9.
“So it's really important, it's because of that social interaction, that social nature of the transmission of this virus, that we need everybody to continue to respect gathering limits, keeping physical distancing as much as possible, staying home or going home right away if you're feeling unwell, wearing a mask where it's required, washing hands and cleaning surfaces frequently.”
Limit travel, Strang urges
Strang said with the Central Zone having most of the positive cases, it's important to limit non-essential travel in the province. Health authorities are asking people to limit travel into and out of Halifax, extending from Hubbards into the peninsula, out to communities around Porters Lake on the Dartmouth side, and north as far as Enfield and Elmsdale and over to Mount Uniacke.
People can travel for school, work and health appointments but should not travel to Halifax from outside communities to go visiting or shopping, and people inside the area should not go out for those purposes, either.
“Coming into or leaving the Halifax area to go shopping should not happen,” Strang said. “And unfortunately, I heard stories about that this weekend – lots of cars in the malls in Truro, people saying they're from Halifax. (I) can't verify that, but it's troubling to hear that.”
He said shop close to home and obey gathering limits.
If you have family gatherings to so within your own household with no more than five additional guests.
Strang also stressed the importance of wearing masks in public spaces, taking people who don't wear masks simply because they don't want to.
“You may not like to wear a mask, that's OK, you don't have to like it, but you still need to do it. So stop looking for loopholes, stop making excuses. Stop arguing with the people who drive our buses, who work in our access centres and who manage our retail stores when they ask you to put on a mask. Masks are an important part of our COVID response plan and they work.”
Strang said the mobile testing vehicles are 20-foot vans that will be staffed by trained workers. They are not replacing the pop-up testing sites and use the main swab tests that the NSH labs use.
One of the mobile testing units will be deployed on Wednesday to support testing at the Northeast Kings Education Centre in Canning, where two positive cases have led to the school being shut down.
“At that school, we're continuing to contact people and are asking for them to set up an appointment for (Wednesday),” Strand said, adding that authorities are still not clear on how to two cases at the school are linked.
Premier lauds response to pop-up testing
McNeil also said rapid-testing pop-up sites in Halifax have led to 21 positive tests among asymptomatic people, who then self-isolated while awaiting a confirmation test from NSH labs.
“This is a very good sign,” McNeil said. “Catching COVID in asymptomatic people is helping us contain the virus.”
Bars and restaurants remain closed except for take-out meals, gyms and fitness centres are closed, and retail businesses must restrict access to 25 per cent of total capacity.
They also announced one additional measure. The number of designated caregivers for designated residents of long-term care centres will be reduced from two to just one, effective Wednesday.
“We're nearly a week into the most recent restrictions, as I've outlined, in the HRM and Hants County, and as I said, it's too early to be sure what kind of impact this is having,” Strang said. “I'm encouraged by what we're seeing today, not only the epidemiology, but certainly the overall compliance, although I've identified a few challenging areas.”
Strang said everyone should expect to have a “very different holiday season this year,” with smaller gatherings and less travel.
Since Oct. 1, Nova Scotia has completed 66,263 tests. There have been 226 positive COVID-19 cases and no deaths. No one is currently in hospital. Cases range in age from under 10 to over 70. Eighty-four cases are now resolved. Cumulative cases may change as data is updated in Panorama.
