Dr. Heather Johnson's interview starts at 49:44

Health officials in Nova Scotia are reporting 13 new COVID-19-related deaths on Thursday – one fewer than what was reported in the province's weekly COVID-19 update last week.

Watch Nova Scotia government to unveil health plan Video Online.

The province’s virtual care program is a stopgap measure but Nova Scotians deserve a long-term primary health-care plan, MLA Claudia Chender says. “We certainly hope that VirtualCareNS is an interim program and that everyone will be attached to primary care,” the New Democratic Party representative for Dartmouth South told a meeting of the legislature’s public accounts committee Wednesday.

A clinical biochemist in Halifax concerned about a global shortage of blood collection tubes is urging health-care providers and patients to be careful about how they use limited lab supplies. 

Opposition politicians said the Progressive Conservatives’ health budget released Tuesday fell short while organizations that represent care providers gave their plans a warmer welcome. The $5.7 billion in health-care spending represented an increase of about $413 million compared to last year.