Province to unveil plans today
Public health orders to be gradually lifted; borders to close Monday to all but essential travellers
After new measures were announced Wednesday to close Newfoundland and Labrador’s borders to all but essential traffic, the chief medical officer of health will unveil a strategy today on how the province will gradually relax other emergency health orders.
The announcement came from Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH) Dr. Janice Fitzgerald during Wednesday’s COVID-19 briefing in St. John’s.
“Together we have weathered the first wave of this virus in our province,” she said. “This is good news, but it is important to remember that this virus still has the potential to be a serious health threat to the people of this province until a vaccine becomes available.”
Pressure has been mounting on local officials to follow suit with other provinces that have already released varied roadmaps for the future.
Fitzgerald warned residents to remain patient and not expect changes to the basic principles of physical distancing and hand hygiene.
“As we move forward, we will have to do so slowly, with caution and with care,” she said.
“We have already seen second waves of this virus around the world.
“It will require our continued patience and determination.”
No hints were given about today’s unveiling, although Premier Dwight Ball said he is looking forward to it “as a grandfather and as a father.”
The New Brunswick government recently floated plans to allow family “bubbles” to merge with one other bubble of friends or family.
“What this comes down to is laying the foundation of how we live with COVID19,” Ball said. “Our plan will balance the risk of businesses with the prevention of a resurgence. We’ve been taking the necessary time to do this right. We have been extremely cautious.”
Health Minister Dr. John Haggie said it’s important to be prepared for changes to be lifted at a slow pace, and for the possibility of them to be reintroduced if needed.
“It will be slow, and it will require discipline. It will require the same discipline we and everybody in this province has obviously shown to get us to where we are now,” he said.
“At this point, we’re not even sure whether the next wave will be COVID-19 or COVID-20,” he added.
CLOSED BORDERS
Even though there were no new cases to report Wednesday — a familiar refrain over the past two weeks — Fitzgerald announced two new measures to tighten up existing health measures.
The most significant of these is an amendment to essentially shut sea and air traffic to all but essential travellers.
This was done in part in reaction to reports of out-ofprovince tourists traipsing about the Bonavista area without having self-isolated.
Exceptions will only be made for those whose primary residence is in the province and those who are coming to work in an exempted field such as health care and construction. Truckers are also exempted.
Fitzgerald said others may be allowed to come to the province under extenuating circumstances with her prior approval.
The change doesn’t come into effect until May 4 in order to give Marine Atlantic and the airlines time to get the message out.
“There is a lag … before this comes into force whereby we can do some preparatory work to avoid having staff at Marine Atlantic deal with people who would be forever adrift on the Blue Puttees if we don’t get it sorted out first.”
The Blue Puttees is one of the vessels in service between Port aux Basques and North Sydney, N.S.
Fitzgerald also announced Wednesday an expansion of an order requiring long-term care homes to avoid having staff working in more than one facility. The new order implements similar requirements on other assisted-living homes.
IN OTHER DEVELOPMENTS WEDNESDAY:
• Ball has appointed longtime civil servant Paul Mills as point man for kick-starting the province’s economy, and said opening a competition or appointing a task force for the job would be too slow and cumbersome.
• The province will top up federal wage subsidies by a maximum of $500 per person to a ceiling of $1,000 combined subsidy per week.