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To all staff and physicians
Current situation
Two new presumptive cases of COVID-19 were announced today, March 16, bringing the total number of presumptive positives in the province to four, with one confirmed case. Read the release here.
Quick Facts:
As of March 16, Nova Scotia has completed 676 tests for COVID-19, with 671 negative results. Testing numbers are updated daily at https://novascotia.ca/coronavirus
Nova Scotia's Health Protection Act gives the chief medical officer of health the authority to give advice to protect public health and decrease risk to public health presented by communicable diseases such as COVID-19. Prevention measures for Nova Scotians include:
- long-term care facilities closed to visitors until further notice
- public schools are closed until March 30 and then will be reassessed
- regulated child care centres closed until April 3 and then will be reassessed
- March break camps cancelled
- casinos in Halifax and Sydney are closed and bar owners can no longer operate VLTs
- anyone who travelled outside of Canada must self-isolate even if symptom-free
- organizations and businesses must practice social distancing of two metres or six feet and keep gatherings below 150 or much smaller if possible.
This applies to restaurants, bars, movie theatres and other gathering spots.
The Government of Canada has issued a travel advisory asking Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside Canada until further notice and today announced enhanced measures at international airports.
Our response
Health Services
To support efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 and the conservation and redeployment of resources many non-urgent procedures, clinics, surgeries and appointments are being cancelled or suspended. Virtual care options are being explored, including the potential for telephone follow-up as appropriate for some patients. Emergency Services will continue to be provided.
Beginning Wednesday, March 18:
- All elective outpatient visits are cancelled. Individual services will contact patients whose appointments are proceeding. Dialysis, chemotherapy and radiation treatments, and mental health and addictions appointments will continue.
- All non-urgent diagnostic imaging appointments will be rescheduled and walk-in x-ray services will be closed.
- All same-day admission and elective surgical procedures are postponed. Cancer and urgent/emergency procedures will continue.
- As currently-occupied inpatient beds become available, they will be held open to create capacity to establish COVID-19 units in designated hospitals.
Information on service interruptions is being posted on the NSHA website at www.nshealth.ca/temporaryclosures and will be updated regularly.
Information for staff
Important information from Occupational Health and Human Resources including screening criteria/work restrictions for healthcare workers, work from home guidelines and other human resource questions and answers have been updated for staff.
Referrals to Coronavirus Assessment Centres
Pre-Screening Guidelines for patients presenting at Ambulatory Clinics and Primary Health Care clinics are available below. This provides a clear direction on referral to Coronavirus Assessment Centres using the Fax Form linked below.
- March 15 - Link to OP3 Resources on Primary Care Referrals to Coronavirus Assessment Centres (PDF)
- March 15 - Fax Referral Form for Coronavirus Assessment Clinics (PDF)
- March 14 - Quick Reference Guide to Screening for Ambulatory Clinics and Primary Care Offices (PDF)
- March 14 - Covid-19 Lab Request to Accommodate Swabs (PDF)
Working Remotely
Information Management/Information Technology is working on providing options to enable NSHA staff to work remotely. NSHA Staff that currently have everything in place to work from home and have done so before (e.g., storm days) can begin working remotely immediately once cleared with their manager/director.
The options to facilitate remote work for additional staff include:
- You have a staff member who has a dedicated desktop computer or laptop they use on a daily basis and can be taken home. You are requesting the necessary setup to enable this computer to be used from home (VPN connection, Ethernet cable of appropriate length, etc.). This option can be provisioned in 1-2 days.
- You have a staff member who could work from home but does not have a computer to do so, and are requesting a computer and required additional equipment be setup. This option may take one week or more to provision depending on the total volume of requests.
In order to capture and triage these requests, we are requesting that each Director complete the form located at located here NSHA Remote Request Form on behalf of their team. These requests will then be triaged, and you will be contacted by IMIT personnel. IMIT will request priorities be set by EOC and/or SLT where necessary. It is important to note that home high-speed internet is a requirement for both options and is the responsibility of the employee.
Please note: NSHA is not able to send printers home with staff. However, if staff already have a printer at home they can call the IT Service desk and request assistance setting up the printer. In most cases this is expected to work.
Personal Protective Equipment
The proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment (PPE) is important. Please watch the following videos for PPE information and demonstration: Donning and doffing instructions: PPE used for droplet and contact precautions. Also the coronavirus intranet – Infection Prevention and Control section has additional materials to support your PPE use.
Morneau Shepell Employee & Family Assistance Program
Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Employee Family Assistance Program (EFAP) can be of great assistance in a time of uncertainty. Morneau Shepell provides immediate and confidential assistance for any work, health or life concern for both employees and their families who reside together. Your EFAP can be reached by calling 1-800-461-5558 or visiting https://www.workhealthlife.com.
Additional information
As a reminder, staff and physicians can engage a trained interpreter via Language Services to support patients and clients who do not speak English fluently or understand it fully. Visit Language Services for tools and information that will help you determine when and how to access an interpreter.
For up-to-date information, please visit NSHA’s coronavirus intranet page.
Questions can be directed to @email..