Nova Scotia’s vaccine rollout continues to expand this week. There are now vaccinations taking place across the province, and facilities are rapidly being brought online to store, distribute, and administer immunizations. Within the next thirty days, there will also be nine cold storage sites – and seven health care worker vaccination clinics established.
This is the largest public health project in our province’s history, and our government is ensuring that health care workers and those who are at highest risk get immunized as soon as possible. Over the coming weeks and months, we will continue to work with medical experts in ensuring a safe and successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2LDtohB
Today is a historic day for Nova Scotia – and for Canada. Nova Scotia has officially become the first jurisdiction in North America to adopt transformative deemed consent legislation for organ and tissue donation.
This change will affect thousands of Nova Scotians and their families for years to come. The new legislation was passed unanimously – an important achievement for our government and Premier Stephen McNeil. Learn more: https://bit.ly/2Xn6kWn
New Self-isolation Requirements
With cases of COVID-19 rising, our government has implemented new self-isolation requirements for people hosting travellers from outside the Atlantic bubble. Effective today, if a person travelling for non-essential reasons enters Nova Scotia from outside Atlantic Canada, everyone in the home where they are self-isolating will have to self-isolate as well. Nobody in that home can leave the property for 14 days and they cannot have visitors.
There will be no change for rotational workers, specialized workers or those who have been granted exemptions under the health order, such as military, police, first responders, truckers, flight crews and others. Nova Scotians are also advised to avoid non-essential travel into and out of Atlantic Canada. The public is reminded again to continue following public health protocols – including washing your hands, wearing a mask, practicing social distancing and limiting social contacts.
Nova Scotia Health is offering a variety of online wellness programs this fall for adults of all ages on healthy eating, physical activity, mental wellness, parenting, and reducing one’s health risks.
The wellness sessions are offered in a friendly group setting using Zoom for Healthcare, and are facilitated by health care professionals, including dietitians, physiotherapists, social workers, and occupational therapists. Most sessions are an hour in length, and generally consist of a presentation, followed by a moderated group discussion. All of the online wellness sessions are free for anyone who lives within the province; a valid Nova Scotia health card is required to register.
The fall wellness schedule is now available online. Nova Scotians can register for sessions through www.HealthyNovaScotia.ca or call 1-844-460-4555 for more information. As well, this website contains a wealth of information about staying well (e.g. tips on mental wellness, physician activity, healthy eating, and parenting), as well as living a healthy life with chronic conditions (such as diabetes, heart and lung conditions, or chronic pain).
Five Islands Provincial Park
It is the season when provincial parks across Nova Scotia celebrate their opening dates. As seasonal parks, most are open to the public from early June until early October. During that time families have the opportunity to enjoy outdoor activities in our parks. We also welcome hundreds of tourists who come to our province and to also enjoy what our parks have to offer.
In particular, we celebrate the opening of the Five Islands Provincial Park. The Park offers over 80 open and wooded campsites, 300’ cliffs overlooking the Minas Basin and great opportunities for hiking, beachcombing, rock collecting, clam digging and other outdoor activities. A view from many points within the Park has been described as “a million dollar view”.
Coding in NS Schools
Coding has been gaining a lot of attention over the past year. As reported in the Globe and Mail in January, Nova Scotia is leading the country in introducing coding into schools. Coding has been identified as a priority for all classrooms under Nova Scotia’s Action Plan for Education, and students in grades Primary to 3 were introduced to coding in September 2015. I was pleased to announce that as part of Budget 2016-2017, the province has invested $1 million to expand support for this initiative.
After the Bell Program
The importance of physical activity in youth 12 -15 years of age has been recognized by the Liberal Government and we are investing $282 000 in projects throughout the province. After the Bell Programs that are supported through this investment, focus on youth who are participating in hockey, swimming, rock climbing, skating, outdoor trails and other recreational sport activities.
We offer no-charge energy assessments and home upgrades to income-qualified homeowners. Know someone we can help? No Child Should Ever Go Hungry
Through Nourish NS, your Nova Scotia Liberal government is expanding the school breakfast program to provide a healthy breakfast to every single student in the province, five days a week.
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