COVID-19 Roundup: Premier’s frustration becomes a charitable boost, vaccine progress, recipes for an isolated Easter
Yesterday, April 8, Nova Scotia recorded 32 new cases of COVID-19, for a total of 342 in the province.
No borders
The pandemic has touched all facets of Nova Scotian life, with confirmed cases in every region of the province. “To date, Nova Scotia has 11,346 negative test results, 342 positive COVID-19 test results, and one death,” says the latest provincial press release. “Confirmed cases range in age from under 10 to over 90. Eleven individuals are currently in hospital, five of those in ICU. Seventy-seven individuals have now recovered and their cases of COVID-19 are considered resolved.” This map shows the disease’s spread across the province.
Support the blazing charities
On April 3, frustrated by reports of Nova Scotians flouting distancing laws, Premier Stephen McNeil urged people to “stay the blazes home.” The phrase has inspired memes, songs, beers, and clothing. Miriah Kearney, owner of My Home Apparel, knows a winning t-shirt slogan when she sees one. Soon workers were churning out the design, with profits going to local charities. “We had been wanting to do something for those in need during all of this,” she tells Raissa Tetanish in Hub Now. The first batch of shirts sold out in hours, raising $45,000 for Feed Nova Scotia, Shelter Nova Scotia, and the QEII COVID-19 Response Fund.
Class in session
When the pandemic hit Nova Scotia, students at Halifax Grammar School were on March break. In just 72 hours, staff and faculty came up with a plan to move the classroom online. “We didn’t miss a day of school,” recalls headmaster Steven Laffoley in this new Halifax Magazine story. At the same time, the school’s community rolled out the Lemonade Project, a resource for all parents (whether they have kids in the school or not) that includes “coping with COVID” webinars by local parenting experts and story time for kids. (For his first reading, Laffoley chose Horton Hears a Who.)
Vaccine progress
Thanks largely to quick work by Chinese researchers who have shared their data worldwide, researchers are beginning human trials for a COVID-19 vaccine, reports The Guardian newspaper. That’s good news but even if the trials are successful (which is by no means certain), we’re a long ways from the end of the pandemic. “Getting a vaccine that’s proven to be safe and effective in humans takes one at best about a third of the way to what’s needed for a global immunization program,” says global health expert Jonathan Quick of Duke University in North Carolina. “Virus biology and vaccines technology could be the limiting factors, but politics and economics are far more likely to be the barrier to immunization.”
Into the cupboard
If you’re a foodie, home isolation is a glorious time to stretch your culinary muscles. If you’re not, it’s mostly a time of realizing that only being able to prepare three basic meals isn’t going to cut it. Our sister magazine East Coast Living can help: its free archives feature hundreds of recipes, with an emphasis on regional favourites and local ingredients. These onion tarts from local chef Jane Wright are an ideal Easter-dinner appetizer.
Need to know
Know a community group, good cause, or inspiring local story we should share? Email the editor.
Editor’s note: The Roundup returns on Monday. Have a happy (and safe) Easter!
This story was originally published in Halifax Magazine.
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