Nova Scotia surpasses 1,000 COVID-19 deaths

Nova Scotia reached a solemn milestone Friday, surpassing 1,000 COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

“A thousand people in a province of a million people is a lot of humans and families that are missing people,” said Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious diseases doctor and researcher at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Data released in the latest weekly respiratory watch report shows an additional nine deaths for the week of Dec. 10-16, bringing the total to 1,004 in the province.

The province’s first COVID-19 death was announced on April 7, 2020. Just four days earlier, Premier Stephen McNeil famously warned people to “Stay the blazes home” to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

While the province’s COVID-19 briefings once included updates on how many people had died and condolences from the premier and chief medical officer of health, updates now quietly come from the respiratory watch reports, which do not include a total death count.

Nova Scotia was praised for its early handling of the pandemic, but saw record cases after the arrival of the Omicron variant in late 2021 and the lifting of many public health restrictions in early 2022.

Barrett said while she is saddened by the death count, Nova Scotia has done better than other parts of the world, in part because of high vaccination rates.

She said that besides COVID-19, there is lots of flu and RSV circulating.

Barrett recommends people wash their hands, stay home when they’re sick and wear a mask in public places.

“Those are not sexy, but they’re really important ways of all of us being well,” she said.

The province’s latest respiratory watch report says that of the 89 COVID-19 deaths during the 2023-24 respiratory season, 85 have been in people 65 and older.

Concern for seniors

“Just because COVID isn’t affecting younger people as badly as it did earlier doesn’t mean it still isn’t killing older people, and that’s what we’re seeing now,” said Bill vanGorder, the past chair of the Nova Scotia chapter of the Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

He said he’s hearing mixed things from seniors these days regarding COVID-19. While some feel well protected against it thanks to their vaccinations, others are concerned about contracting the coronavirus and are staying away from people.

“They’re isolating themselves and then that’s causing all kinds of problems in terms of mental health and not being with their family and friends and doing the things that they do,” said vanGorder.

Barrett is encouraging people to test themselves for COVID-19 and to pay attention to any symptoms they may have. She said things like fatigue or headache could be COVID-19, or another respiratory illness.

“We really don’t want people getting together with vulnerable older people if they’re not well,” she said.

‘Think of your loved ones’

VanGorder shares that sentiment.

“Think of your loved ones, think of your neighbours, think of your family,” he said. “And even though you may not feel concerned for your own health, remember that if you get COVID, even a mild case, you can give it to somebody who’s much more susceptible and they could end up being extremely sick or even die because of your inconsideration.”

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