Nova Scotia reports 95 people in designated COVID-19 units Sunday

Nova Scotia reported 95 people in a designated COVID-19 hospital uniton Sunday a dropfrom Saturday's 102, which wasthe highest number of hospitalizations reported in months.

Of those, 13 people are in intensive care.

In a news release, the province said the age range of people in hospital due to COVID is four to 95, with an average age of 65. Of the 95 people in hospital, 87 were admitted during the Omicron wave.

There are also two other groups of people in hospital related to COVID-19:

• There are 135people who were identified as positive upon arrival at hospital but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19, but no longer require specialized care.
• There are 139people who contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital.

The number of COVID-19 admissions and discharges to hospital was not available Sunday.

Currently, unvaccinated Nova Scotiansare about 3.5 times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than someone with two doses of vaccine. That is based on average hospitalizations since the province started releasing the daily hospitalization numbers by vaccine status on Jan. 4.

Nova Scotia labs completed 2,038 tests on Saturdayand reportedan additional 349 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Halifax protesters support convoy demonstrations

A planned protest took place in downtown Halifax Sunday afternoon in support of the convoy demonstrating in Ottawa against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

In a news release, Halifax Regional Police asked the public to stay away from the area as the protest was disrupting traffic.

The protestalso affectedsome transit routes in the downtown core, Halifax Transit said on Twitter.

Const. John MacLeod, HRP public information officer, said police had "safely moved out" over a thousand vehicles that took part in the protest.

The planned event wentahead despite a new order issued by the province on Friday evening that bans protesters from blockading or disrupting traffic.

Atlantic Canada case numbers

• New Brunswickreported one deathand159hospitalizations Sunday,including 17inICU. The province has recorded 259 COVID-19 deaths.
• Prince Edward Islandreported 12peoplein hospital Sunday, with onein ICU. The province announced 154 new cases and 500 recoveries.
• Newfoundland and Labradorreported 1,557 active cases, 21 hospitalizations and 579 tests completed in Sunday's report.There are 110 new cases.