The premier says the province will re-open when the entire province is ready.
Five residents of Northwood, a long-term care home in Halifax, died during the weekend; the Halifax Infirmary COVID-19 unit has been re-deployed to the facility to help support the needs of residents.
Patients who have recovered are being moved to a recovery unit at a nearby hotel; residents with the virus are being treated on-site, and all testing is being done on-site.
The Preston area is also considered a major hotspot for the virus in the province.
Premier Stephen McNeil says he won’t consider loosening restrictions if just those two areas can be contained.
“We are one province, this virus will not divide us, economically or socially- let no one leave this press conference thinking that we are going to be a divided community,” he says. “We started this journey as a province together, and we’re going to end it together- we will take the measures off the province consistently when we believe Public Health gives us the ability that we can protect Nova Scotians.”
The province’s top doctor says a tragic situation is unfolding at Northwood.
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, says a number of the facility’s residents and staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, but it’s not as simple as moving residents to another home when you’re dealing with the elderly and frail
Meanwhile, Strang says there’s a lot of misinformation regarding COVID-19.
He says we need to trust the scientists who know what they’re doing, and the clinicians conducting trials on treatment options for the virus.
“Do not believe everything you read just because it’s the Internet, and certainly do not believe Dr. Oz,” he says. “Please do not keep pushing out your information that’s based on one-offs from who knows what the credibility of these people is- we have to rely on credible, clinical science and clinical evidence to drive us.”
Our province has nine deaths in total; we have 675 cases, including 26 new cases announced Sunday.
