Nova Scotia reports 4 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday

Nova Scotia reported four deaths related toCOVID-19 on Wednesday.

The deaths includea woman in her 50s in the central zone, a man in his 80s in the western zone, a man in his 90s in the central zone and a man in his 90s in the eastern zone.

The province reported 45 people in designated COVID-19 hospital units on Wednesday, including 12in ICU.

On Tuesday, the province recorded its 200th death since the pandemic began. Ninety-four people have died of COVID-19 since the Omicron wave began in December 2021.

The age range of those in hospital Wednesday was fiveto 92, with a median age of 61.

Of those in hospital:

• 12 (26.7 per cent) people have had a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine.
• 20 (44.4 per cent)were fully vaccinated (two doses).
• 2 (4.4 per cent) waspartially vaccinated.
• 11 (24.4 per cent)were unvaccinated.

About 7.9 per cent of Nova Scotia'spopulation is not vaccinated. The province says 92.1 per cent of Nova Scotians have received at least their first dose, and 86.8per cent have received their second dose.

COVID-19 hospitalizations and death rates

Unvaccinated Nova Scotiansare about 5times more likely to be hospitalized due to COVID-19 than someone with two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. That is based on average hospitalizations since the province started releasing daily hospitalization numbers by vaccine status on Jan. 4.

Unvaccinated people are about 4 times as likely to die of COVID-19 during the Omicron waveas someone who received a booster dose, based on numbers provided by the province and last updated on Feb. 25.

New cases reported

Nova Scotia Health completed 2,025 tests on March 1.

An additional 362new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Monday,with 144cases in the central zone, 80cases in the eastern zone, 63cases in the northern zone and 75cases in the western zone.

There were an estimated 2,247active cases of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

The province noted there will be an increase in new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported becausepeople with positive rapid tests are to get a confirmatory PCR test.