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.
Map of NS community health networks Table of community networks New and active cases Vaccination rate Canada’s fourth wave
29 cases over the holiday weekend
Tuesday, September 7, 2021
Reopening status
Phase 4
New cases
29
New recoveries
26
New deaths
0
Active cases
58
Total cases in Nova Scotia during pandemic
6,076
Total COVID deaths
94
But that big number is no reason to panic. Having 29 infections in four days is an average of about seven cases per day—it's 7.25 to be exact—pretty darn close to last week's average of 7.28 cases per day. And even with all those new COVID patients, the active caseload only increased by three to reach the current 58 active cases in Nova Scotia.
If there's a number to be concerned about today, it's two: "two people are in hospital COVID-19 units" says the province's case report. This comes after last week had zero hospitalizations, but at least these two patients are not in intensive care. Here's hoping they don't become sick enough to require ICU treatment.
The 29 cases are scattered across all four provincial health zones. "Fifteen of the cases are in Central Zone. Nine are related to travel. Three are close contacts of previously reported cases. Three are under investigation," says the province. "Six cases are in Western Zone. Four are related to travel. Two are close contacts of previously reported cases.
"Six cases are in Northern Zone. Two are related to travel. Three are close contacts of previously reported cases. One is under investigation. Two cases are in Eastern Zone. Both are related to travel."
For a more focused understanding of where the cases are, our map and table show disease activity in the 14 community health networks that make up Nova Scotia, using Coast analysis of provincial data. Nine of the health networks have new cases, with the Annapolis Valley and Halifax networks leading infections at six apiece, followed by Truro/Colchester with five of the 29 new cases.
Testing over the long weekend was in the current range, averaging about 2,650 tests processed every day by local labs. But vaccinations took a bit of a holiday, as clinics across the province injected just over 3,000 arms in four days, around 750 shots per day on average, the fewest since the Easter holiday in April averaged about 700 daily jabs The province's fully vaccinated population rose from 71.4 percent on Friday to 71.6 percent today, a rate that's far too slow to reach the Phase 5 reopening target of 75 percent fully vaccinated by September 15, just eight days from now.
Although vax rates do tend to increase during the week, and Nova Scotia is on track to eventually surpass 75 percent, it's unlikely we will do it by next Wednesday. Houstrang is having a COVID briefing tomorrow at 3pm, and if neither premier Tim Houston nor top doc Robert Strang address the subject, The Coast will be there to do it.
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. Note: On July 23, 2021, Nova Scotia announced that it will no longer update case numbers on weekends.
jump back to the top
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. Note: Effective July 23, 2021, the province no longer updates case numbers on weekends.
jump back to the top
New and active cases visualized
Nova Scotia's third wave of COVID grew in April, 2021, peaked in May (227 new cases in one day was the maximum) and subsided in June. On July 17, the province reached five active cases—its lowest level in more than eight months—and an election was called. So when it came time to reset The Coast's chart comparing daily new cases with that day’s active caseload, in order to better reflect disease levels after the third wave, we started from July 17. The dark line tracks the rise and fall of new infections reported by the province; the green area is the province's caseload. Click or hover over any point on the graph and the detail for that moment will pop up. To focus on just new or active cases, click the legend at the top left of the graph to hide or reveal that data set. Note: As of July 23, 2021, the province stopped updating case numbers on weekends. And you can click here for the version of this graph that includes the third wave and its May 10 crest of 1,655 active cases.
jump back to the top
Vaccination in the population
How many Nova Scotians already have one dose of vaccine? How many are fully vaccinated with two doses? And how close are we to the herd immunity goal of 75 percent of the province fully vaxxed? These questions are answered in our chart of the vaccination rate in Nova Scotia since the province started reporting these numbers in January 2021, breaking out people who've had a single dose separate from those who've had the full complement of two doses. (Here's more information about the 75 percent target and what it will take to get there.) Note: The province doesn't update vaccination numbers on weekends.
jump back to the top
Canadian cases in 2021
There was a point in July 2021, when the delta variant was causing an increase in COVID infections around the world, that Canada seemed safe from the fourth wave. By August, however, that point had passed, and case numbers around the country started to rise again. This graph charts the number of new infections every day in each province and territory, using the 7-day moving average to mitigate single-day anomalies (including a lack of weekend reporting in several jurisdictions including British Columbia and Nova Scotia). To focus on individual places, click the place names at the top of the chart to turn that data on or off.
jump back to the top
Click here for the previous COVID-19 news roundup, for Friday, September 3, 2021.