{"id":21610,"date":"2021-05-28T05:09:48","date_gmt":"2021-05-28T08:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=21610"},"modified":"2021-05-28T05:09:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T08:09:48","slug":"dr-strang-encourages-nsians-to-get-tested-regularly-for-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=21610","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Strang encourages NSians to get tested regularly for COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;93&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;126&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HALIFAX: <\/strong>The province\u2019s top doctor said he is concerned with low testing numbers as of late for COVID-19 pop-up testing and is encouraging n Nova Scotians to get out and get swabbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Robert Strang was answering a question from The Laker News posed during the May 25 briefing, held a day after Victoria Day as Nova Scotians celebrated their second May long weekend in lockdown due to the deadly virus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He was asked \u201cWith the testing numbers down, is there anything more the province can do to encourage NSians to get out and tested frequently? Is this concerning to see the test numbers down?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;34&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Here is video from the May 25 briefing where we asked about the low testing. It begins at the start. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Video edited by Dagley Media<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pat Healey from The Laker News on the NS COVID-19 Update (05-25-2021)\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/6nbCkfrDhZE?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/UpdateMay25-4-830x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21613\" width=\"417\" height=\"509\"\/><figcaption>Dr. Robert Strang speaks at the May 25 COVID-19 briefing. (Communications N.S. Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Strang said typically Sundays are their lowest day for testing, especially on a long weekend. This past Sunday, May 23, they had just below 4,000 people get tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really important so we need Nova Scotians to continue to get tested,\u201d said Dr. Strang, who calls Fall River home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have lots of access to testing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhether its through our Primary Access Centre (PAC) that are all across N.S., if people have symptoms or one of the groups identified as a close contact or a group that is required to get tested like a traveller then they can book and go to the PAC for a PCR test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the daily case numbers have dropped in recent days, so has the number of people testing which could result in more people unknowingly carrying COVID-19 and spreading it to others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate group=&#8221;7&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;31&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>N.S. Health issued a release also encouraging residents get out and get their nose tickled at one of the many popup or rapid testing sites in the province.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cA significant number of appointments at primary assessment centres remained unfilled across the province during the past few days,\u201d said the release. \u201cGetting tested regularly is quick and easy and one of the ways to live safely with COVID-19 and protect your community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To book an appointment, visit <a href=\"https:\/\/r20.rs6.net\/tn.jsp?f=001lui22Q70ebQW1i9eOtYN6P1nd4fs_dPlJFPQJsl6Q3DVQ9qksJpdPTBpl4PQ1eS4muek8PAEAHr1XQO6FevmdAJOuxzlLHG2iRx6H27rNZ8SUF6yq380vtFMNWQe8ZVwzySdXOgritja2BWZxY3nu5gQBPFMvdt6J8nVhMRIWSA=&amp;c=3saqQfHJnM2OeCqPSE9UXHORz070Akg8sMd7k9BeEWrFMe-ozH0vDA==&amp;ch=ib5oXo1T8oO3gJuGztUwLrUV3DYP9i7_4E2gXbVL6Q0Q7HweSN8hwQ==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/covid-self-assessment.novascotia.ca\/en<\/a> or call 811.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to booking an appointment, Nova Scotians are able to get tested at a rapid testing location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;95&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;92&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Locations change frequently, so continue to check the Nova Scotia Health Coronavirus testing <a href=\"https:\/\/r20.rs6.net\/tn.jsp?f=001lui22Q70ebQW1i9eOtYN6P1nd4fs_dPlJFPQJsl6Q3DVQ9qksJpdPVWEfCPf9GfMOmIlO6fm6PG7i3WEv1YDW14BazK_kzJLbuyLjNFvBC9OQiK5WtSciIy6H-y52ofVjRPCkI_4Yra7LYKaGxI-H9OFCAznUDkIV9CQlpNJPiY=&amp;c=3saqQfHJnM2OeCqPSE9UXHORz070Akg8sMd7k9BeEWrFMe-ozH0vDA==&amp;ch=ib5oXo1T8oO3gJuGztUwLrUV3DYP9i7_4E2gXbVL6Q0Q7HweSN8hwQ==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">website<\/a> and social media for the latest information. It\u2019s important to note that a negative result on the rapid test is not a guarantee. You could still develop or be exposed to COVID-19 in the coming days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAs such, it\u2019s important to continue to protect yourself and others by continuing to wear a mask, washing your hands, maintaining social\/physical distance, and sticking to a small social bubble,\u201d said NSH in the release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate group=&#8221;6&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Strang said if people have no COVID-19-like symptoms they are suggesting they get tested on a regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re still encouraging everybody to get tested on a regular basis,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more contacts you have in your life, whether its mostly through work now, the more frequently you should get tested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe have a lot of access to asymptomatic testing at the PAC\u2019s and the pop-up sites we\u2019re doing. We\u2019re hopeful this week that we\u2019ll see a push on the testing again. We have lots of capacity in our lab that we can use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;127&#8243;]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;30&#8243;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[adrotate banner=&#8221;93&#8243;] [adrotate banner=&#8221;126&#8243;] HALIFAX: The province\u2019s top doctor said he is concerned with low testing numbers as of late for COVID-19 pop-up testing and is encouraging n Nova Scotians to get out and get swabbed. Dr. Robert Strang was answering a question from The Laker News posed during the May 25 briefing, held a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,957],"tags":[2150,975,983,196,2,50,976,2198,48,1617,1077,2199,2200],"class_list":["post-21610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-news","tag-covid-19","tag-covid19","tag-dr-robert-strang","tag-east-hants","tag-fall-river","tag-halifax","tag-health","tag-low-testing-numbers","tag-n-s","tag-n-s-health","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nsh","tag-test-regularly"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}