Starting at the end of the month, Nova Scotians will be expected to wear non-medical masks in most indoor public spaces.
“This is how we can protect each other and support our local businesses as we learn to live with COVID-19,” Premier Stephen McNeil said at a news conference Friday.
The policy will take effect Friday, July 31.
Indoor public places include:
Retail businesses.
Shopping centres.
Personal services businesses, such as hair and nail salons, spas, body art facilities, except during services that require removing a mask.
Restaurants and bars, except while people are eating or drinking.
Places of worship or faith gatherings.
Places for cultural or entertainment services or activities, such as movie theatres, concerts and other performances.
Places for sports and recreational activities, such as a gym, pool or indoor tennis facility, except while doing an activity where a mask cannot be worn.
Places for events, such as conferences and receptions.
Municipal or provincial government locations offering services to the public.
Common areas of tourist accommodations, such as lobbies, elevators and hallways.
Common areas of office buildings, such as lobbies, elevators and hallways, but not private offices.
Public areas of a university or college campus, such as library or student union building, but not classrooms, labs, offices or residences.
Train or bus stations, ferry terminals and airports.
Non-medical masks are already required for passengers and drivers using public transit, as well as private taxis and shuttles. That measure took effect today.
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Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang said that if people are ever in doubt about the rules around masks, they should wear one.
“Wearing a mask, along with all the other core public health measures, is how we will minimize the impact of a second wave of COVID-19,” Strang said Friday.
People are expected to provide their own masks, but Strang said the government will help with supplies as needed.
Exemptions apply to children under two. Children up to four can be exempt if their caregivers cannot get them to co-operate with putting a mask on. Masks can be removed temporarily for identification checks, ceremonial reasons and services like beard trims and facials.
“There are very few valid medical reasons to not wear a mask,” Strang said.
(CBC)
He said anxiety is the primary reason for a medical exemption, but he encouraged people to start by practising at home or in another safe space to get used to wearing a mask. Strang said there is no evidence that masks can worsen chronic lung conditions, including asthma and chronic obstructive lung disease.
Masks will not be enforced. Strang said the province is taking a “co-operative approach,” and he asked that people not make assumptions or pass judgment when they see others not wearing masks.
Nova Scotia has only one active case of COVID-19 and no new cases have been reported in nine days. Public health is still investigating the source of infection for the case that was reported on July 15. Strang said sometimes the source of individual cases is never determined, which highlights the importance of maintaining basic preventive measures like handwashing.
“Even though we’re at low risk now, it’s not zero risk,” he said.
But McNeil said Friday that he was worried about the economic impact of border restrictions, and suggested domestic travellers would soon be allowed to travel freely into the province.
McNeil said mask-wearing is the added protection Nova Scotia will need to open to the rest of the country.
“We need to learn to live with COVID until there is a vaccine,” he said. “We can’t stay closed forever.”
He said Nova Scotia’s $2-billion tourism industry has taken a major hit because of the pandemic, and it’s an industry that Nova Scotia can’t afford to lose.
“I’m afraid if we don’t safely open up to the rest of Canada, most of our tourism businesses will have to shut down,” McNeil said.
“We need to find the courage to welcome our fellow Canadians.”
Strang said Friday he’d found a “solution” that would allow for time-limited contact between athletes, including in other medium-contact sports. He gave few details, and said Sport Nova Scotia would be contacting affected sport organizations next week.
Symptoms list
People with one or more of the following COVID-19 symptoms are asked to visit 811’s website:
Fever (chills, sweats).
Cough or worsening of a previous cough.
Sore throat.
Headache.
Shortness of breath.
Muscle aches.
Sneezing.
Nasal congestion/runny nose.
Hoarse voice.
Diarrhea.
Unusual fatigue.
Loss of sense of smell or taste.
Red, purple or bluish lesions on the feet, toes or fingers that do not have a clear cause.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.
The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.
Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.
“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”
The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.
A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.
Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.
“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.
Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.
The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.
“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.
Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.
The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.
“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.
Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.
Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.
Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.
A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.
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