Misinformation wildfire
Mother of rotational worker says family harassed because of false social media posts
GLACE BAY — Venice Vance hasn't had a good night's sleep since Wednesday.
That was the day her son Nick Kelly returned to their Glace Bay home at 2:30 a.m. where he started his 14-day isolation, separated from the rest of the family in the basement.
A pipe fitter, 19-year-old Kelly and two other rotational workers from Cape Breton arrived early morning on Feb. 24 after driving home from Alberta where they were working.
By Thursday, the three young men were being targeted on social media with posts and rants about them breaking provincial public health protocols after one of them had their first required COVID-19 test results come back positive. Kelly's test result came back negative.
"I hate that there was fiction put out there instead of facts. People just assume. The kids were targeted because of lies instead of the truth. They aren't doing what everybody is saying," said Vance during a phone interview from her Glace Bay home.
"And that poor boy that has COVID ... he has a (respiratory condition). That boy is home. He hasn't left his home and no one is concerned about how he's doing."
RUMOUR MILL CHURNS
Along with the social media posts, rants in group threads and chat rooms resulted in threatening private messages to the three rotational workers. Vance also got those messages and is diligently trying to fight misinformation about her son online.
"(It feels horrible) because you have to explain yourself and put out information the public shouldn't even know," she said.
Posts were being shared saying Kelly was the one with the virus. Vance posted his test results from Nova Scotia Health to prove it was negative.
Screengrabs of Kelly's location through multimedia messaging app, Snapchat, were posted and shared as proof he wasn't obeying isolation orders. These screengrabs show Kelly's Snapchat image on the road; in one screengrab his character, or avatar, is seen in a car.
Alleged sightings of the men at public places were popping up. Vance said a woman alleged she saw Kelly and his stepfather at a restaurant.
When Vance questioned her in the social media thread it became apparent the woman saw Vance's husband and his friend at the restaurant a week before Kelly was in Nova Scotia.
People also claimed the men were at a party in Glace Bay on Saturday - three days before the men arrived in Cape Breton.
At some point the rumour about the young men being at the party, which happened on Feb. 20, the Saturday before they returned to Cape Breton, turned into Kelly throwing the party.
"There was no party. Nick got in at 2:30 in the morning. Who throws a party at 2:30," Vance said during the phone interview.
"The party they are saying they saw the boys at was on Saturday. They weren't even home on Saturday. People can check this out. Call the Nova Scotia border and see when they did their checkin."
Rumours swirled around the men having girlfriends at Glace Bay High School. Vance said her son's girlfriend is in second year of college and she hasn't seen him because, like the other two workers, he's been in self-isolation.
"There's one guy who posted that these three boys planned this," Vance said. "That they came home here to spread COVID. Like, it was unreal what was being posted and what was being said."
Kelly's family has also been affected even though they are doing more than what public health directives require.
Vance said a business called to inquire when her husband, who hasn't travelled, had returned to Canada indicating they heard the family had COVID-19.
She also saw posts saying the Nova Scotia Liquor Corp. store in Glace Bay was closed because she had been in there. Having not been in there for a week, Vance called the store who told her they hadn't closed.
Even Vance's daughter who doesn't live with them has been affected.
"My daughter goes to Glace Bay High. She lives with her father," said Vance. "She has people not going near her, shunning her and her step-sister. They were nowhere near their brother."
DIFFERENT REQUIREMENTS
One of the 10 cases of COVID-19 announced on Friday was located in the eastern zone. Another case in the zone was announced on Saturday.
After cases are detected, public health officials do contact tracing and alerts are issued indicating locations of possible exposure to the virus.
There have been no new possible exposure locations announced for anywhere in Cape Breton and on the two pages of listings online, none are located in the eastern zone, which includes the geographic region of Cape Breton Island as well as Antigonish and Guysborough counties on the mainland.
During Friday's COVID19 update, the province's medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said domestic workers have different requirements during isolation directives when they return from working out-ofprovince and people need to remember this.
Instead of isolating alone or having to isolate with the other residents of the home, rotational workers can isolate with family members who are allowed to leave the home at will.
Isolating rotational workers can also drive family members to work or school and get take-out, as well as pick up contactless retail orders.
"People need to understand what the requirements are for different groups," Strang said during Friday's briefing with reporters.