The province is extending the ongoing state of emergency until Apr. 19.
The Premier’s Office released a statement Thursday confirming they would request the Lieutenant Governor enact the two-week extension.
Meanwhile, $50 million in support is coming to small business owners and laid off workers.
At a press conference Thursday, Premier Stephen McNeil announced two new $20 million programs.
$20 million will go to $1000, one-time payments to laid off workers and business owners who don’t qualify for EI.
Another $20 million will provide up to $5000 each, depending on revenue, to struggling small businesses.
This comes as the province announces 20 new cases of COVID-19, for a new provincial total of 193.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang says they’re now investigating about 9 per cent of cases as suspected community spread.
“We are seeing more and more cases that is likely it’s community transmission,” he says. “That is not a surprise. This is exactly how COVID-19 plays out, we get it from travel, it starts to get into communities. This is the time when all our public health measures need to really clamp down to minimize the spread within Nova Scotia communities.”
Strang unveiled the Nova Scotia Health Authority’s new map of cases by region.
It shows that in the eastern zone, which includes the Quad Counties and the rest of Cape Breton, there are 21 confirmed cases.
