Nova Scotia reporting 1 new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday

Nova Scotia reported one new case of COVID-19 Tuesday, bringing the total active cases in the province to 16.

The new case is in the Northern Zone and is currently under investigation by Public Health, according to a press release from the Department of Health and Wellness.

On Tuesday evening, a Truro-area business posted on Facebook that one of its employees had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier in the day.

RiverBreeze CornMaze, which is in Northern Zone, said the employee worked in the parking lot at the Fear Farm on Friday and Saturday night, but never worked the maze during the day.

"We called Public Health and their advice was to not panic and advise our other staff to monitor their health as a precaution. To take safety to the next level, we thought we would let our customers know as well," the post said.

It's unclear whether the case in Truro is a separate case from the one announced Tuesday by the provincial government.

Cases under investigation

There are now several cases under investigation by public health officials, said Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, in a media conference Tuesday.

He said there are two groups of individuals where travel is a factor, but Public Health is trying to determine the source of initial infection and who else may have been exposed.

"There is nothing at this time that points to general community spread here in Nova Scotia," he said.

But the fact that the province is seeing more and more cases, landing in the double digits for the first time since June, is something Strang said should put everyone on "high alert."

He referenced Manitoba, a province that had been on a similar track as Nova Scotia in the summertime, but has recently been seeing a massive increase in cases, reporting 241 COVID-19 cases and 5 deaths on Monday.

Upcoming holiday season

The next few weeks, Strang said, are "critically important" for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in Nova Scotia. As the holiday season approaches, he reminded everyone to follow public health guidelines, including proper mask-wearing and gathering limits.

Over Halloween weekend, police issued fines after responding to some large private gatherings. Strang said it's especially disappointing because the vast majority of people are following the rules.

He thanked parents and families for finding creative ways to safely distribute Halloween candy from a distance, whether it was clipping sweets to clotheslines or hanging goodies off a hockey stick.

"It's a reminder that we can still keep our traditions alive while being safe, and we need to think about that while moving into the holiday season," Strang said.

Specific guidance for Remembrance Day ceremonies will be available soon on the province's website. It will include things like placing wreaths before the ceremony to minimize movement of people and ensuring any musical performers are a minimum of six feet apart.

"This is not a year to have mass singing. We want to have very small numbers of people, if you have them at all, who are singers," Strang said.

Testing data

Nova Scotia Health Authority labs completed 625 tests on Monday.

To date, Nova Scotia has had 1,114 positive cases and 65 deaths. No one is currently in hospital related to the virus.

The latest numbers from around the Atlantic bubble are:

• New Brunswick reported no new cases Monday. It had 29 active cases, down from 33 the day before. 
• Newfoundland and Labrador reported no new cases Tuesday. It has three active cases.
• P.E.I. reported no active cases.

Symptoms

Anyone with one of the following symptoms should visit the COVID-19 self-assessment website or call 811:

• Fever.
• Cough or worsening of a previous cough.

Anyone with two or more of the following symptoms is also asked to visit the website or call 811:

• Sore throat.
• Headache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Runny nose.