NOTE: This day is now over. Click for the latest on COVID-19 from The Coast. Or for an informative look back at Nova Scotia's evolving pandemic response, keep on reading.
Low cases 🏆 low testing 🤢 low vaccinations 🤮
Tuesday, June 1, 2021
New cases
12
New recoveries
91
New deaths
0
Active cases
369
Days in a row with cases
64
Total cases in Nova Scotia during pandemic
5,579
Total COVID deaths
85
Halifax’s lockdown
40 days
Nova Scotia’s lockdown
35 days
Things are so slow, today the province is back to reporting what it knows about how those new cases developed. "There are eight new cases in Central Zone. Six of the cases are close contacts of previously reported cases and two cases are under investigation," the daily provincial update says. Close contacts? Under investigation? These words are strangely comforting, reminiscent of a time before we lost control to a massive, deadly third wave of infections washing over the province.
Carrying on: "Three cases are in Eastern Zone. Two of the cases are close contacts of previously reported cases and the other case is under investigation," says the province. "One case is in Northern Zone and is a close contact of a previously reported case."
We localize these cases further in our map and table of infections in the province's 14 community health networks. The Halifax network has the most cases today, with seven, followed by three new infections in Sydney/Glace Bay. Dartmouth, which has been another hotspot during the third wave, has no new cases today, for the first time in over a month. Let's hear it for Dartmouth!
Tuesday's dozen new cases is the lowest number of infections reported in 42 days, since April 20. But you know what else is at the lowest level since April 20? Testing. The province is reporting that only 3,576 tests were processed by local labs yesterday, the fewest in a day since the 2,723 reported April 20. So while 12 cases is a wonderfully low number, it would be even better if it came on a day when there were 10,000 tests, and the "percent of positive" tests dropped, too.
“I’m pleased to see our cases trending downward and Nova Scotians should be proud of their efforts,” says premier Iain Rankin via the Tuesday report. “But just because we are seeing fewer cases does not mean we can disregard the public health measures. We are in a good position as we enter Phase 1 of our reopening plan tomorrow. Let’s continue do our part by following the public health protocols and getting tested for COVID-19.”
There are 38 COVID patients in hospital today, 15 of them in the ICU. Both of these numbers are down slightly from yesterday, when there were 40 hospitalizations and 16 people in intensive care.
In vaccinations, the province is reporting that 5,118 doses were injected Monday. This is the lowest dosing rate in 15 days, a shoddy showing when you consider how the province really got is vax act together on some of those days. Nova Scotia delivered more than 21,000 doses last Wednesday, it had two days above 20,000 jabs the week before and it even averaged more than 6,600 injections per day over the holiday long weekend, which we thought was crappy—until we got Monday's figures.
Recoveries and infections graphed
A person who tests positive for COVID-19 counts as a new case, the beginning of a problem for both the province and that person. The best ending to the problem is the patient recovers from the disease. This interactive chart compares how many problems started (the red area of new cases) to how many ended (the blue area's recoveries) each day in Nova Scotia's third wave, revealing growth trends along the way. Click or hover over any point on the graph and the detail for that day will pop up, to reveal exactly how quickly things change: May 7 had Nova Scotia's most-ever infections diagnosed in one day, 227 new cases, more than triple the 71 recoveries that day. Two weeks later, May 21, had a record recoveries, 197 in a day, more than double the 84 new cases. To focus on just new cases or recoveries, you can click the legend at the top left of the graph to hide or reveal that data set.
Case table of the health networks
The Coast uses data logged from Nova Scotia's official COVID-19 dashboard in order to provide this tabulated breakdown. The province reports the number of active cases in each of Nova Scotia's 14 community health networks, but we do the math to be able to report the new and resolved case numbers. We also map the data to provide a different view of the case information.
Map of cases in community health networks
This infographic was created by The Coast using daily case data from Nova Scotia's official COVID-19 dashboard. Our goal is for this to be the best NS COVID map around, clearer and more informative than the province or any other media organization provides. To get there we do an analysis of the data to find each day's new and resolved case numbers in the 14 community health networks, information the province does not provide. For a different but still highly accessible approach to the latest COVID statistics, check out our case table.
A daily dozen
The province's COVID report for Tuesday is out, and it says there are 12 new cases and no deaths. That's a great report. Our map, table, updated charts, et cetera are coming now, followed by a write-up with more numbers.
Changes to Phase 1 of the reopening plan
At the standard COVID briefing yesterday, premier Iain Rankin modified the first phase of the reopening plan to allow Halifax and Sydney schools to reopen after all (on Thursday, not Wednesday like schools in other areas of Nova Scotia), while free travel inside Nova Scotia—including Halifax and Sydney—starts today, not Wednesday as originally scheduled. Our full report is here in case you missed it.
Getting tested
At this point in the Nova Scotia's third wave, health officials consider widespread testing an important part of the fight against the disease. "The thing I think that folks are missing is that what we're recommending at the moment, is not just that people get tested when the numbers"—of new infections—"are high, but also get tested weekly,” rapid testing leader Lisa Barrett explained to The Coast. She says most people should “assume that you're in an exposure site if you live in certain areas in this province—or almost anywhere in the province at the moment, because there's a lot of community spread.” To that end, click here to find a rapid test now.
New and active cases visualized
This interactive graph charts COVID activity in Nova Scotia's third wave, comparing daily new cases with that day’s active caseload. The dark line tracks the rise and fall of new infections reported by the province, which hit a Nova Scotian pandemic record high of 227 cases in a single day on May 7. The green area is the province's caseload, which peaked May 10 at 1,655 active cases. Click or however over any point on the graph and the detail for that moment will pop up. To focus on just new or active cases, you can click the legend at the top left of the graph to hide or reveal that data set.
Click here for yesterday's COVID-19 news roundup, for May 31, 2021.