2 new positive COVID-19 test results bring N.S. to 19 active cases

Two new cases of COVID-19 have been identified in Nova Scotia, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 19 all but three of them related to the Northwood long-term care centre in Halifax.

Nova Scotia has had 1,055 confirmed cases of the virus.

The QEII Health Sciences Centre's microbiology lab completed 1,136 tests on Wednesday.

Northwood currently has 12 residents and four staff members with active cases. It is now the only seniors home in the province with active cases of the virus.

There have been 59 deaths in Nova Scotia related to COVID-19.

Eight people are currently in the hospital, three of themin intensive care. As of Thursday, 977 people have recovered and their cases are considered resolved.

Reopening to begin June 5

Nova Scotia businesses prepare to reopen

4 years ago

Duration 3:12

If ready, some businesses can reopen on June 5. But as the CBC's Colleen Jones reports, retooling a business in the era of COVID-19 in an uncertain econony can be overwhelming.

On Wednesday, the province announced that some businesses may start to reopen on June 5 provided they are following public health guidelines.

Premier Stephen McNeilsaid on Wednesday that if ready, the following businesses can open:

• Restaurants for dine-in.
• Bars, wineries, distilleries and craft beer taprooms.
• Personal services like hair salons,barber shops, nail salons, spas and tattoo parlours.
• Fitness facilities like gyms, yoga studios and climbing facilities.
• Veterinarians.
• Dentistry and other self-regulated health professions such as optometry, chiropractic and physiotherapy.
• Unregulated health professions such as massage therapy, podiatry and naturopathy.

The reopening date for daycareshas been pushed back to June 15.

Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, said on Wednesday that businesses must follow two-metre physical distancing requirements whenever possible, encourage the use of non-medical masks, stay within the gathering limits and follow frequent handwashingprotocols.

Strang said more details will be made public in the near future and McNeil promised to share more information about reopening Nova Scotia's economy and social gatherings during abriefing Friday.

Updated symptoms list

The list of COVID-19 symptoms recently expanded.People with one or more of the following updated list of symptoms are asked to visit811's website:

• Fever (chills, sweats).
• Cough or worsening of a previous cough.
• Sore throat.
• Headache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Muscle aches.
• Sneezing.
• Nasal congestion/runny nose.
• Hoarse voice.
• Diarrhea.
• Unusual fatigue.
• Loss of sense of smell or taste.
• Red, purple or bluish lesions on the feet, toes or fingers that do not have a clear cause.

MORE TOP STORIES