**10am Update**Province reports 66 new cases of COVID-19 today (April 26th)

The province is reporting 66 new cases of COVID-19 today, marking another record-high daily case count since the beginning of the pandemic. The Department of Health and Wellness provided the update in a tweet earlier this morning, including a breakdown by health zones. There are 58 cases in the central zone, five in the eastern zone, one in the northern zone and two in the western zone.  **Premier Iain Rankin and Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, will provide another update today, April 26, at 3 p.m. which will be streamed live on the government’s website: https://novascotia.ca/stayinformed/webcast/

 

Province announces stricter rules as Covid-19 cases continue to climb

As a result of the growing number of cases, the province has announced stricter COVID-19 measures for all of Nova Scotia and harsher penalties for those who break public health rules. All Nova Scotians are now being asked to avoid travel outside their immediate communities unless it’s for essential reasons, like work or medical appointments. People were already asked not to travel in and out of the Halifax area as of Friday morning, when the region was placed under a four-week lockdown.  Employers are also asked to encourage and support employees to work from home as much as possible to help reduce possible contacts.  At a press conference Sunday, Premier Iain Rankin said the official order on this change will come this week, and will be in place until at least May 20.

Gathering limits for both indoors and outdoors have also been lowered to 10 people for all regions outside the Halifax area. The limits are still five people within Halifax. Both Rankin and Dr. Robert Strang had harsh words for those who have been breaking regulations, especially the 22 people ticketed earlier this weekend at a large gathering. Dalhousie University has confirmed some of those at the gathering were students and the university will consider suspensions.

The federal government says it expects Canada to receive around 1.9 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine this week, including its very first shipment of shots from Johnson & Johnson. The government says the country will receive about 300,000 of the single-dose jabs in the coming days, in addition to more than 1 million Pfizer-BioNTech shots and around 650,000 doses from Moderna. But Canada is not currently expecting any more deliveries of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Those doses have been in heavy demand after the eligible age for the shot was dropped to 40-plus in several provinces. Federal Public Procurement Minister Anita Anand said last week that Canada is in talks with the U-S for some of its AstraZeneca supply after President Joe Biden suggested it might share the shots. The U-S has stockpiled tens of millions of AstraZeneca shots, but health officials there have not approved the vaccine for use. (The Canadian Press)

 

Some potential COVID-19 exposure location notifications to pass your way:

• Ocean Lane Bowling-Sports Bar (45 Lake Rd, Tatamagouche) on April 19 between 2:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
• The Country Bread Basket Bakery & Coffee Shop (629 Brule Point Rd, Tatamagouche) on April 20 between 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m..
• Jost Vineyards (48 Vintage Ln, Malagash) on April 20 between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• Jungle Jim’s Stellarton (Exit 24, 127 N Foord St, Stellarton) on April 19 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Anyone who was at those locations during the specified times needs to self-isolate while they await test results, regardless of whether they have symptoms of COVID-19.  If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating.  All potential exposure notifications in the province are listed here: http://www.nshealth.ca/covid-exposures.

 

Nova Scotians can now provide feedback on administrative regulations, the second-to-last phase for input on draft regulations under the new Traffic Safety Act.

The proposed administrative changes are available online for public feedback.

Highlights of this phase include:
— vehicle seizure impoundment
— issuing of identification cards and driver licence cards
— sharing documents, records and information
— requirements when challenging a decision made by the Registrar or the Motor Vehicle Appeals Board
— fees

To date, the department has received more than 1,000 comments on draft regulations.

The new Traffic Safety Act, replacing the Motor Vehicle Act, was passed in 2018. The new act will govern and regulate the registration and identification of motor vehicles and the use of provincial highways and roads. This includes driver licences, the registration and inspection of vehicles, traffic laws and equipment standards.

The act and regulations will take effect following the public review phase and once upgrades to the Registry of Motor Vehicles computer system are completed.

Nova Scotians can get more information and provide feedback by going to: https://novascotia.ca/traffic-safety-act-public-engagement/

The deadline for feedback on the administrative changes is Monday, May 24.

 

Sports Notes:

The Weeks Junior A Crushers suffered a loss in In round-robin play over the weekend, losing 6-3 to the Ramblers in Amherst. The Crushers are now 5th in the standings.  ***UPDATE***The the Maritime Junior Hockey League (MHL) announced this morning that it’s postponing all hockey activities for its six Nova Scotia teams until further notice, including the final three games in the Eastlink South Playoff Round-Robin which were scheduled for Monday night (there had been a home game scheduled for tonight between the Crushers and the Valley Wildcats).