N.S. sees sharp increase in people in hospital with COVID-19

Hospitals in Nova Scotia are reporting a significant jump in the number of patients who are testing positive for COVID-19.

As of Thursday, there are a total of 260 patients in hospitals across the province who are positive for COVID-19, according to Nova Scotia Health. That number includes:

• 45 patients admitted for treatment of COVID-19 symptoms (ninein ICU).
• 143 patients admitted for treatment ofanother health issue but tested positive forCOVID-19.
• 72 patientswho contracted COVID-19 after admission to hospital.

That is an increase of 64 patients from last week, one of the largest week-over-week increases reported in Nova Scotia hospitals since the start of the pandemic.

There are fewer than five children admitted to the IWK hospital due to COVID-19 symptoms as of Thursday.

Canada's public health officials have warned of an increase in hospitalizations as the highly transmissibleOmicron subvariant BA.5 circulates around the globewhile provinces have lifted mask mandates and ended measures meant to contain the spread of the virus.

Nova Scotia reports 5new deaths

Nova Scotia is reporting five newCOVID-19 deaths and a daily average of 272lab-confirmed cases in its latest update to the provincial dashboard.

The figures are from a seven-day period from July 19to July 25.

There were a total of 1,910positive PCR tests,a smallincrease from last week. That number does not include positive rapid test results.

On July 6, the province limited who can access to PCR tests to select groups who are symptomatic, including people over 50, front-line health care workers and immunocompromised people. People who test positive on a rapid test can no longer have their result confirmed via a PCR test.

Since March 2020, there have been 468COVID-19 deaths in Nova Scotia. About three-quarters of those deaths happened during the Omicron wave, which began Dec. 8, 2021.