HALIFAX — Despite signs the latest COVID-19 wave in Nova Scotia has peaked, restrictions to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus will remain until at least the middle of next month, officials said Wednesday.
Health orders such as gathering limits and reduced capacities for bars and restaurants are needed because the province continues to report high numbers of COVID-19-related hospitalizations, chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang told reporters.
"Both hospitals and long-term care facilities are under extreme stress and pressure," Strang said. "They need more time before we can safely lift restrictions."
Since December, restrictions imposed by the government across the province include indoor and outdoor informal gathering limits of 10 people and capacity reductions to 50 per cent for bars and restaurants.
Meanwhile, health officials reported three more deaths related to COVID-19 on Wednesday and said 312 people were in hospital with the disease, including 15 patients in intensive care.
The deaths included a woman and a man in their 80s in the Halifax area and a man in his 90s in the province's eastern zone. Nova Scotia has recorded 30 deaths since Dec. 8, when the wave fuelled by the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus began.
Strang said many of the hospital deaths over the past few weeks have involved older patients with "multiple chronic conditions."
Sounding a more optimistic note, Strang said lab data indicates the province is past the peak regarding COVID-19 cases. "But we know that there is a two-to-three-week lag and right now, we expect we are right in the middle of the peak for hospitalizations."
A total of 346 new lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Wednesday, while officials estimated there were 4,353 active infections in the province.
Premier Tim Houston said the uptake of COVID-19 boosters was another factor that would determine whether the government would lift restrictions in mid-February. Houston said there were encouraging signs for the vaccination program, which had an initial goal of administering 139,000 shots this month.
"As of yesterday, we had 255,000 booster shots in arms in January alone, and we are on track to hit 296,000 boosters in arms by the end of the month," he said. He added that when December's booster shots are factored in, nearly 485,000 people will have had a third shot of vaccine by the end of January.
Since the province's 400 public schools reopened to in-person learning last week, there haven't been any operational disruptions — even though about 11 per cent of teachers and staff reported absent on Tuesday, Houston said. "This puts a stress on the system but it's manageable at this point."
Houston remarked on recent protests against public health restrictions and noted that more are planned for the upcoming weekend, including possible highway blockades.
"My message to anyone planning a blockade of a highway is don't do it. Nova Scotians have no patience for highway blockades and personally … I have even less, so just don't do it."
A daylong blockade of the Trans-Canada Highway at the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia boundary last June resulted in three arrests.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 26, 2022.
Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press
