Three, two and, eventually, one
Residents told to ‘hold fast’ as province moves to Alert Level 2 next Thursday
Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald announced Wednesday that the province will move to Alert Level 2 next Thursday if COVID-19 cases remain low until then.
The June 25 transition will represent a 17-day window between levels, significantly lower than the fixed 28-day window that elapsed between levels 4 and 3.
“Moving ahead to Alert Level 2 will require the same co-ordinated effort that has brought us this (degree of) stability back into our lives,” Fitzgerald said at Wednesday’s video briefing.
“Every public health decision made to date has been done so thoughtfully and with careful consideration of your health and well-being at top of mind,” she said. “And as we learn to live with COVID-19, our public health officials will continue to balance taking the necessary measures with allowing ordinary life to continue as much as possible.”
Asked about the limits on gatherings for Alert Level 2, Fitzgerald said she is thinking of allowing up to 50 people. The current limit is 25.
But that comes with strict conditions.
“That wouldn’t apply to gatherings in your home. That would apply to distanced gatherings, so that people are maintaining physical distancing.”
She said the department is consulting with faith leaders to see how church and other gatherings would look, and are focusing in particular on how some rituals would fit in with safe health practices.
“There may be some changes to the way that services are able to be carried out,” she said.
Looking even further ahead, but before a vaccine is available, Fitzgerald said she doesn’t want to move too far outside the concept of the bubble.
“I feel like bubbles have meant something to people, that people understand what that means, and so I don’t know if we’ll get away completely from talking about bubbles.”
“We can put numbers in place, and try and restrict numbers, but you know any time you get a gathering and any time you get over two or three or whatever the number would be, there’s a risk,” added Premier Dwight Ball.
“Just continue to be responsible,” Ball advised. “Continue to use good common sense. Practise safe health guidelines.”
The premier admitted that concerns about residents’ mental health has become a motivator for opening things up as soon as possible.
He said if a second wave of the coronavirus hits, the province is much better equipped to handle it.
“We’ve learned lessons from other jurisdictions, and jurisdictions have learned from us.”
Speaking of a vaccine,
Fitzgerald said the province needs to see at least twothirds of residents getting a shot for it to be effective.
“We would like to get 80 per cent or more vaccinated. That would be our goal.”
FACEMASKS
Given some concerns about the province’s decision not to mandate the wearing of facemasks, Fitzgerald reiterated her reasons for making it a recommendation only.
“We haven’t really had to consider this question before, so the information is new, the evidence is new and still developing and evolving,” she said.
“At the moment, we’re recommending it in situations where you can’t physically distance, and I think that’s what most places are recommending at this time.”
She also added that any amount of mask-wearing reduces risk, no matter the numbers.
“Any time you have a reduction in the amount of respiratory droplets that are happening, I think that would be beneficial.”
IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS WEDNESDAY:
■ There were no new positive cases of COVID-19 to report. The last case was reported three weeks ago.
■ The premier announced that after 101 days of briefings — which were held seven days a week at first — they will now only be held once a week, on Wednesday.