ns Nova Scotia reports record 148 new cases of COVID-19 Saturday Province warned that test backlog could mean higher numbers Nova Scotia reported 148 new active cases of COVID-19 on Saturday — the highest number of new daily cases since the start of the pandemic. Nova Scotia Health labs conducted 16,578 tests on Friday, by far the highest number of tests conducted in a single day. There were 129 cases in the central health zone, 17 in the eastern zone and two in the western zone. Two of the cases in the central zone are residents of the Clarmar Residential Care Facility in Dartmouth and are related to a previous case at the facility. The province said Thursday that all residents have been fully vaccinated with two doses of vaccine. Another case in the central zone is a staff member at Shoreham Village care facility in Chester. Residents of that facility have been isolated as a precaution and all staff and residents are being tested. According to a news release, all residents had received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

ont Ontario reports 3,369 new COVID-19 cases as ICU admissions climb to 900 Province says Ontario's ICU triage protocol hasn't yet been activated Ontario reported 3,369 new cases of COVID-19 and 29 more deaths on Saturday as overall admissions to intensive care units climbed to 900 for the first time. Some 2,152 people in the province remain in hospital because of the infectious disease, a figure that has consistently been trending upward since the start of the third wave of the pandemic. Of the patients in ICUs, 637 require ventilators to breathe. As hospitals continue to move critically ill patients around the province and bring in health care personnel from other provinces, the Ontario health ministry said on Saturday that it hasn't yet activated an ICU triage protocol. Activating a triage would mean the hardest decisions health-care providers ever face will have to be made. These decisions include who gets potentially life-saving care and who doesn't. In a statement, the ministry said the current stay-at-home order — combined with investments to increase hospital beds across the province — means this more drastic step has not yet been taken. "These efforts combined with the ramping down of elective surgeries and other non-emergent/urgent clinical activity will add an additional 700 — 1,000 beds and ensure our health system has the tools and resources needed to provide world-class care to every Ontarian who requires hospitalization," the ministry said in the statement.