The province’s Privacy Commissioner is satisfied with the way in which government officials are balancing the public’s right to know with the protection of privacy when it comes to COVID-19.

The provincial government has held updates nearly every day since the pandemic hit the province’s shores.

After several weeks, the province released information on the number of cases in specific areas of the province, but has not identified individual communities, except in areas with higher populations.

Michael Harvey understands the public’s right to know if there are cases in the town where they live, but there are public health reasons why that information may not be revealed.

He says identifying a case in a particular community might leave people in neighbouring communities with a false sense of security. From a public health perspective, it’s necessary to carry on as if anyone has the virus and he says the full extent to which the virus is currently circulating in the community is still not fully understood.