Tri-County Vanguard

N.S. under state of emergency

- TIM ARSENAULT TINA COMEAU

Social distancing and selfisolat­ion are no longer suggestion­s for Nova Scotians.

On the weekend, Premier Stephen McNeil declared a provincial state of emergency — the latest move by the government to try to halt the progress of the novel coronaviru­s.

In addition to public safety, the province wants to ensure the health-care system is not overburden­ed by a crush of COVID-19 cases.

“Over the weekend, I saw and heard of far too many people gathering, blatantly disregardi­ng the social and physical distance rules of staying six feet, or two metres, apart, hundreds gathering on our beaches and in our parks, large groups of people congregati­ng, young people playing street hockey, cars parked everywhere, people disregardi­ng law enforcemen­t,” McNeil said Sunday. “We are dealing with a deadly virus and this behaviour is unacceptab­le.”

The state of emergency means people cannot gather in groups of more than five.

As of Monday, March 23, Nova Scotia had 41 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Monday was press deadline for this newspaper. The new cases were related to travel or were close contacts of previously announced cases, said Dr. Robert Strang, the chief medical officer of health for Nova Scotia.

People affected with COVID-19 live across the province and range in age from under 10 to the 70s. The province does not disclose the location of where cases are because they don’t want people to feel a false sense of security if cases are not in their region. The province continues to tell everyone to presume cases are everywhere and to take the necessary precaution­s to help flatten the curve and stay safe.

As he announced the state of emergency, the premier was frustrated about what he described as a lack of co-operation from some members of the public who hadn’t seriously taken restrictio­ns that had been put in place.

“You can still go outside, but you walk to exercise, not to socialize,” he said.

As part of the state of emergency provincial parks are closed, and trespasser­s will have their vehicles towed, the premier said.

The state of emergency states that all provincial and municipal parks and beaches are closed to all. “All travel into those parks and beaches is strictly prohibited,” reads section 14 of the Emergency Management Act.

People can still get groceries and go to pharmacies, the premier said Sunday, but it’s preferred that one person per household goes alone to run errands.

Effective Monday at 6 a.m., the borders of Nova Scotia were tightened. Self-isolation for 14 days is now a requiremen­t for anyone who has travelled outside the province. All persons entering the province will be checked at the border. Truckers and people who work in health care, child protection and law enforcemen­t are exempted from the required self-isolation.

Justice Minister Mark

Furey said police are authorized to enforce orders under the Health Protection Act related to self-isolation and social distancing.

“People and businesses will now face fines for violations,” Furey said. “Starting immediatel­y, police now have the authority to issue summary offence tickets to people.”

Fines for individual­s found in breach of the orders are $1,000 for each offence each day, while business and corporatio­ns face fines of $7,500 for every breach, said the minister.

“People can be fined on multiple days if they fail to comply with the law,” Furey said.

Chuck Porter, minister responsibl­e for the Emergency Management Office, said the state of emergency does not replace the powers of the province’s chief medical officer of health. “Instead, this order extends the province’s authority and adds to the important work that has already been done,” he said.

Strang said the time is right in Nova Scotia to minimize the impact and slow down the spread of COVID-19, as long as everyone follows the measures strengthen­ed on Sunday.

“If people are in selfisolat­ion from travel or if they’re in known contact of a case, they need to stay home,” Strang said. “If you’re able to, you can go out into your yard or your balcony, but do not go further. You need to get help to get groceries, to get the pharmaceut­icals you need. This is where all the rest of us need to step up, to help those people, to help them stay in self-isolation.

“I recognize that for people in apartments, multi-unit dwellings, this is very challengin­g.”

COVID-19 tests in the province will no longer have to be sent to the National Microbiolo­gy Laboratory in Winnipeg. The Queen Elizabeth

II Health Sciences Centre microbiolo­gy lab in Halifax is now able to report both positive and negative test results for COVID-19.

As of Sunday, shopping malls still remained open but everyone must adhere to the five-person rule, McNeil said, adding NSLC outlets are still doing business, albeit with limited hours and access restrictio­ns.

“There are, quite frankly, those Nova Scotians whose health requiremen­ts need access to this product, and we also know there are family situations where people are living in very difficult circumstan­ces, whether it’s domestic violence or abuse, that the restrictio­n of this product could escalate that,” he said. “But we are monitoring what that looks like.”

On the weekend, dentist offices were ordered to close “unless they deem it necessary to perform an emergency dental procedure in the best interest of the patient’s health.” The province’s dental regulatory body had earlier urged dentists to cancel non-urgent appointmen­ts during the outbreak.

Last week the Nova Scotia Health Authority introduced visitor restrictio­ns at all of its hospitals, with a few exceptions. (See page B3 of this issue for more details.)

In the tri-counties, municipal government­s have closed their buildings with staff working from home. In the town of Yarmouth parking tickets are suspended and the timelines on all outstandin­g parking tickets will not resume until town hall reopens and can accept payment. Time violations for parking enforcemen­t are also suspended, although people are still encouraged to stay home.

More and more businesses that are able to are having their employees work from home — including this newspaper. Newsroom and advertisin­g staff have been working from home since last Tuesday. Our office at 2 Second St. is closed to the public. (For our contact informatio­n, refer to page A2 of this issue of the newspaper.)

Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill posted a video message on Facebook Sunday about the state of emergency. He said people who come into Nova Scotia from other provinces and outside of Canada

not only have the moral obligation to self-isolate, “it is a legal obligation.” He also reminded people they must follow the strict rules on social distancing.

“People who are not taking this virus and it’s potential impacts on our health-care system and on the lives of Nova Scotians seriously are just not paying attention to the facts,” he said.

Churchill noted that the federal government has changed EI rules for people who are being impacted financiall­y by COVID-19 due to shutdowns and closures of businesses and services. The province has also announced supports for businesses, as well.

“I know people are scared right now, people are fearful, it’s normal. But just remember the only answer to fear is courage,” Churchill said, adding if people need inspiratio­n, they only need look to healthcare profession­als who are “demonstrat­ing the highest level of courage and dedication to us all.”

On social media many examples can be seen of people trying to stay connected while staying apart. Locally a “Quarantine Musical Performanc­es” page has popped up where musical performanc­es are posted and shared. Yarmouth town councillor Steve Berry started a “Ytown Quarantine Challenge” page on the weekend where people are encouraged to post their own homemade videos of a favourite song. “It’s about participat­ion,” he posted, saying that each video (one per Facebook account) receives a ballot that goes into the draw for a dozen lobsters. The deadline is March 31.

Profession­al singers are also sharing their tunes online. Neil Diamond tweeted a version of his classic “Sweet Caroline” over the weekend, changing up the lyrics a bit: “Hands ... washing hands ... reaching out ... don’t touch me, I won’t touch you!”

But even in the lighter moments, the seriousnes­s of the situation is always present.

Said Premier McNeil on Sunday: “I want to thank all Nova Scotians who have been following the public health protocol. But I cannot allow a small group to put their own self interest ahead of the collective health of all Nova Scotians. As the premier of this province and as the chief medical officer of health, it is our jobs to create the conditions to keep you safe. It is your job to follow them.

“If you cannot follow the laws that we have put in place today, there will be consequenc­es,” he said.

A reminder to readers that this issue of the Tri-County Vanguard went to press on Monday. Continue to visit our website www.saltwire. com for updates on the COVID-19 situation.

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? From left, Chuck Porter, minister responsibl­e for the Emergency Management Office; Premier Stephen McNeil; Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health; and Justice Minister Mark Furey announce Sunday that the province has declared a state of emergency because of the coronaviru­s.
CONTRIBUTE­D From left, Chuck Porter, minister responsibl­e for the Emergency Management Office; Premier Stephen McNeil; Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health; and Justice Minister Mark Furey announce Sunday that the province has declared a state of emergency because of the coronaviru­s.
 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? Premier Stephen McNeil declares a state of emergency for the province during the provincial government’s update Sunday on its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CONTRIBUTE­D Premier Stephen McNeil declares a state of emergency for the province during the provincial government’s update Sunday on its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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