Nova Scotians admitted to the hospital while sick with COVID-19 are no longer being treated separately from patients who have not contracted the virus.

Dr. Shelly McNeil, senior medical director for COVID planning with Nova Scotia Health, says this is the gradual evolution of dealing with COVID-19 in the health system.

The province has eliminated designated COVID-19 units in favour of a “care in place” model which means all patients will be treated in the unit of the hospital that meets their medical needs, regardless of COVID-19 status.

McNeil says that by making this change there will be more hospital beds in the regular rotation of hospital services.

 

 

The fall lobster fishing season in LFA 25 opened this morning after bad weather delayed the opening earlier this week.

The federal Fisheries Department announced Tuesday after a DFO weather call that Lobster Fishing Area 25 would open for fishing at 6 a-m. Thursday.

L-F-A 25 includes the western half of the Northumberland Strait.

The season will remain open until October 12th.

 

 

In a first for Nova Scotia, a judge has referred a convicted murderer to a restorative justice program.

Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Kevin Coady says the referral does not change the life sentence Brandon Jake Hollohan received earlier this year after he was convicted of second-degree murder.

The program typically focuses on the offender’s reconciliation with victims and the community, often with help from facilitators in a group setting.

The judge says evidence generated by the process can be considered at Hollohan’s parole eligibility hearing, but it will not dictate the outcome because the principles of sentencing still apply.

 

 

The former C-E-O of a Halifax hospital has been sentenced to five months in jail for expense fraud.

Tracy Kitch was found guilty Wednesday of fraud over five-thousand dollars in February after it was revealed she used her corporate credit card to pay for 47-thousand dollars worth of personal expenses between 2014 and 2017.

During sentencing yesterday, the judge said the former head of the I-W-K Health Centre was a highly paid civil servant who chose to ignore corporate expense rules to benefit financially.

Kitch is appealing her conviction and has a hearing set in the Court of Appeal for today as she hopes to remain free on bail pending the appeal.

 

 

Gas and diesel prices went down overnight in New Brunswick.

Gas prices dropped 13.9 cents per litre, putting the maximum price for regular  self-serve gasoline at 174.9 cents per litre.

Diesel prices decreased by 12.8 cents per litre, leaving the maximum price for diesel at 187.8 cents per litre.

Nova Scotia sets its fuel prices at midnight tonight.

 

 

With the school year quickly approaching, the Mounties and others are helping out.

Pictou District RCMP officers helped the United Way of Pictou County fill backpacks with school supplies, grocery gift cards, indoor sneakers, and items from local police and fire services.