Nova Scotia Under Lockdown

USPA NEWS - With today's 96 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total active case numbers to 419, Premier Ian Rankin announced that as of 8am on April 28th, 2021, Nova Scotia will be entering  a 2 week province wide shutdown.

During the Tuesday April 27th, media briefing the province's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Robert Strang had this to say, "We are in a race between the variant and the vaccine. There is substantive risk of community spread across the province. We need to slow that spread until we are closer to population immunity through our vaccination program."

During what the Premier  is calling  a two-week "circuit breaker," all indoor non-essential services, including malls, stores, gyms, personal care, restaurants and bars will be closed to the public, but  if possible, they can offer curbside pick-up, takeout or delivery. Retail stores province wide will be closed for in-person service unless those stores provide services essential to the life, health or personal safety of individuals and animals. These stores can remain open at maximum 25 per cent capacity and include those that provide: food, pharmaceutical products, prescriptions, medical devices, personal hygiene products, baby and child products, hardware and cleaning products, pet supplies, computer/cellphone service and repair, electronic and office supplies, and gas station/vehicle repair centers. 

Dr. Strang went on to say, "Gatherings are limited to the people in your household, unless your household is only one or two people. If that's the case, you can bubble with another one or two-person household, but they must be the same people for this two week period."

In regards to  all gatherings, schools and daycare the following restrictions were announced: Nova Scotians can only gather indoors or outdoors with their household bubble, which is the people they live with, all public and private schools are closed with remote learning in place, and day cares will remain open, with the focus on providing service to those providing essential services or have no other child-care option.

Long-term care/special care restrictions are as follows: No visitors or volunteers allowed inside long-term care facilities except for designated care providers and no visits to the community, all adult day programs for seniors will be closed, all homes licensed by the Department of Community Service under the Homes for Special Care Act can not have visitors and residents can not have community access, and all adult day programs for persons with disabilities funded by the Department of Community Services will be closed except for scheduled vaccine clinics.

Events, recreation, and arts and culture restrictions include:  no social events, special events, festivals, arts/cultural events, sports events, faith gatherings, wedding receptions, or funeral visitation or receptions, no meetings or training except mental health and addictions support groups, which can have 10 people with physical distancing and masks, wedding and funeral ceremonies can have 5 people plus officiants, indoor fitness facilities like gyms and yoga studios and sport and recreation facilities like pools, arenas, tennis courts and large multipurpose recreation facilities are closed, including licensed and unlicensed establishments cannot host activities such as darts, cards, pool and bowling, businesses and organizations offering a wide variety of indoor recreation activities are closed, such as indoor play areas, arcades, climbing facilities, dance classes and music lessons, outdoor recreation activities, including individual sports, are allowed and encouraged; outdoor fitness and recreation businesses and organized clubs can operate with a maximum of 5 people and physical distancing, museums, libraries and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia are closed, but libraries can offer pick-up and drop-off of books and other materials, all fitness, recreational and sports facilities are closed, restaurants and licensed establishments are closed for dine-in service, but contactless take-out or delivery is allowed, Nova Scotia Liquor Commission stores can remain open at 25 per cent capacity, personal services such as hair salons, barber shops and spas are closed, regulated and unregulated health professions can remain open with an approved COVID-19 plan, and Casino Nova Scotia in Halifax and Sydney and First Nations gaming establishments and VLTs must close.

In closing, Dr. Strang advised that there is to be no unnecessary travel between communities. He said, "A community is defined as the municipality where you live - people should stay as close to home as possible when accessing essential or necessary services or products."

April 29th UPDATE: The COVID-19 case numbers for April 27th are 96 new cases making 419 active cases, April 28th, 75 new cases making 489 active cases, and April 29th, 70 new cases making 548 active cases. As the COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise throughout the province, Premier Rankin and Dr. Strang are reminding all Nova Scotians that it takes everyone doing their part by following the restrictions in place in order to beat the COVID-19 virus which would allow things to return to a less restrictive way of life.