People who attended basketball championships may have been exposed to COVID-19: NSHA

Possible exposure at N.S. basketball championships People who attended provincial high school basketball championships in Halifax may have been exposed to COVID-19. CTV’s Nick Moore reports.

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia Health Authority says people who attended provincial high school basketball championships in Halifax earlier this month may have been exposed to COVID-19.

The NSSAF Division 1 Provincial Basketball Championships were held from March 5 to 7.

The NSHA says people who visited the Halifax Grammar School gymnasium, or the Homburg Athletic Centre gymnasium at Saint Mary’s University, during that time period should closely monitor their health for COVID-19 symptoms.

“There is a potential that people could have been exposed to COVID-19,” said Nova Scotia Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Robert Strang during a news conference Thursday.

“Anybody who is known to have close contact with the case has already been identified.”

The NSHA says people who are at a high risk of exposure have already been identified and are now in self-isolation.

Those who simply attended the games are considered at a low risk for exposure and should continue to monitor their health for symptoms.

“In Public Health, part of our work is to notify the public about low-risk exposures so individuals can monitor their symptoms and take the necessary steps to be assessed and tested, with the goal of limiting the spread of infectious disease,” said Dr. Claudia Sarbu, central zone regional medical officer of health in a news release.

It is anticipated that anyone exposed to the virus at those events would develop symptoms by Saturday.

Teams that played at Halifax Grammar School and the Saint Mary's Homburg Centre between March 5-7 include the boys teams of Dartmouth High, Citadel High, Horton High, Auburn Drive High, Dr. J.H. Gillis High and Riverview High.