Public health officials are asking Nova Scotians to change their COVID-19 testing habits.

At Wednesday's COVID-19 briefing, Premier Tim Houston acknowledged Nova Scotian’s commitment to testing is the envy of public health officials across the country.

“To be totally honest, I’ve been a regular for months at either stopping at a clinic for a PCR or a rapid test at home. It’s always been something I’ve been doing during the pandemic, and it’s always provided a great deal of comfort. So, I get it,” said Houston. “I get that the change is difficult, but we have to start moving away from the way we’ve been testing.”

Houston says approximately 830,000 tests are distributed across Nova Scotia each week.

The province has ordered 2 million tests above the amount they receive from the federal government, but like the rest of the provinces they’re waiting on supply to arrive.

The province’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang says before anyone can get a PCR or rapid test, they need to do the self-assessment online.

“This is the reality of dealing with limited supply and while you may not be happy about this, we all need you to understand and accept that others may need to be a higher priority than ourselves,” said Strang. “ Please do not get angry at frontline staff or try and find a workaround. Put others ahead of yourself and be kind to those who have been caring for you for over the past two years. They deserve nothing less than this.”

Public health announced 12 new hospital admissions and seven discharges Wednesday.

They also reported a woman in her 60s from the Western Zone has died.

Strang says Nova Scotians should be confident that vaccines are working.

While people are still dying from the virus, Strang says vaccines are preventing serious illness in most.

In a release, Nova Scotia Health said there are currently 600 staff and physicians off work due to COVID-19 infections, or self-isolate requirements.

As a result, only urgent and emergent surgeries, including time sensitive cancer surgeries, will be performed at this time

Strang says the omicron virus has seriously impacted the ability of hospitals to maintain staffing levels.

“There’s no doubt we are in a very serious situation. The most serious we’ve been in during this entire pandemic, given all the pressures on our health care system,” said Strang. “This is different than other waves. We’ve never before had hundreds of healthcare workers not able to work or so many cases that public health is no longer able to identify and closely manage each case and all their contacts.”

Strang urges everyone to reduce their contacts and follow the masking and social distancing requirements to keep themselves and the people around them safe.

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