Nova Scotia reports 2 deaths, 74 new cases of COVID-19 Sunday

Nova Scotia reported two deaths and 74 newcases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

The deaths were a man and a woman in their 70s, both in the central health zone. Nova Scotia has recorded 79 deaths related to the virus since the start of the pandemic.

In a news release Dr. Robert Strang, the province's chief medical officer of health, noted there have been five deaths announced in the last three days in Nova Scotia.

"For a small and tight-knit province like Nova Scotia, these losses touch us all," he said. "I urge everyone to keep doing all you can to protect each other."

61 cases in central zone

The centralzone reported the majority of new cases with 61.

There were nine new cases in the eastern zone, three in the northern zone and one in the western zone.

The news release said hospitalization data was not available and would be updated laterSunday. On Saturday, 74 people were reported to be in hospital with the virus, including 20 in intensive care.

Nova Scotia Health labs completed 6,890 tests on Saturday.

There are now 943 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, down from 975 in Saturday's update.

According to the release, the province is monitoring the northern and western zones for signs of community spread. There is already community spread in the central zone and Sydney.

It said that testing has been increased inBridgewater, New Minas and Kentville,which are areas of concern.

Vaccination milestone

On Saturday Nova Scotia marked a milestone of 500,000 vaccine doses administered.

Health Minister Zach Churchill commemorated the achievement at the City Drug store in Yarmouth.

Over 45 per cent of Nova Scotians have now received their first COVID-19 vaccine dose.Strang has indicated that the goal is to have everyone in the province receive at least one dose by the end of June.

According to the province, two-thirds of vaccine doses are now administered at pharmacies.

Atlantic Canada case numbers

• New Brunswickreported 14 new cases Sunday. The province has 128 active cases.
• Newfoundland and Labradorreported 23 new cases Sunday and warned of a cluster of cases. The province has 87 active cases with four people in hospital.
• P.E.I.reported five new caseson Wednesday. The province has 15active cases.