The easing of restrictions in the province has gone well so far but don’t expect this to be expanded quickly.
Dr. Robert Strang, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, says there is no time line for opening up the province and that we will not be going back to what used to be considered normal.
“This has to move sequentially but slowly and carefully, and governed by the epidemiology and other things we need to consider. There are some things that are going to have to continue for a long period of time, like social distancing and other pieces that become part of our new normal.”
There are now 998 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the province after seven more were identified yesterday, with no new cases being reported in the Eastern Zone in the past week.
There have also been 31,541 negative test results, with 661 people are considered to be recovered and five people are in the hospital, two of them in the ICU.
We know that schools in the province will not be opening before the Victoria Day weekend but, beyond that, any dates are unknown, including for those looking at attending post-secondary institutes in the Fall.
Premier Stephen McNeil says the government will will follow the advice of Public Health and will not rush any decisions.
“The most critical thing and the thing we’ve been most focused on has been the health and safety of Nova Scotians and that will be what drives our decision and it will be based on evidence and we will continue, as a government, to work with Public Health.”
One of the side effects of COVID-19 in some children is an inflammation of the feet, believed to be Kawasaki disease, which sometimes affects children after a viral infection.
Dr. Strang says there have not been any children hospitalized due to COVID-19 in this province, so far.
“Certainly IWK is part of a network of pediatric hospitals that does active surveillance on a number of issues so, they’re well aware and I’m sure they’d be part of a national surveillance on this newly recognized syndrome.”
He says they regularly consult with the rest of the medical community in the province.
