The Department of Health is advising anyone who recently returned from Nova Scotia and visited bars in the area of Halifax within the last two weeks to get tested for COVID-19.
Public health officials say the request is out of an abundance of caution, paired with a new testing strategy being rolled out in Nova Scotia.
The maritime province is asking anyone who works in a bar—or visited one in the last two weeks after 10 p.m.—to book a COVID-19 test even if they are not showing any symptoms. Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang says most of their recent cases are connected with young people who visited late-night bars and restaurants.
Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Health and Community Services says anyone who meets that criteria should arrange for a test, even if they are not showing symptoms.
If that test returns a negative result, the department strongly encourages them to continue monitoring for symptoms for a full two weeks from the time of their arrival in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nova Scotia Sets New Restrictions
Nova Scotia reported 37 new cases of COVID-19 today. The majority of which were focused in the province’s central health region.
As such, the provincial government set out a new series of restrictions to curb the spread of the virus.
“COVID-19 is moving quickly in Halifax, and we need to stop it from spreading further into Nova Scotia. We must bring COVID-19 under control before our health system is overwhelmed and it infects our most vulnerable citizens. Stopping the spread is fully up to us.”
-Excerpt from a statement by Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil.
The provincial government is asking people to stay home as much as possible outside of work and school, and limit time spent with others outside their home bubble.
For the next two weeks, Nova Scotians are asked to avoid non-essential travel around western and central Halifax Regional Municipality, and to other provinces in the Atlantic region.
As of November 26, new restrictions in western and central Halifax Regional Municipality from Hubbards to Porters Lake are in place. pic.twitter.com/RmtZQ3ymXP
— Nova Scotia Gov. (@nsgov) November 24, 2020
Within that region, the public gathering limit is five. Masks are now mandatory in the common areas of multi-unit residential areas, and restaurants and licenced establishments must be closed to in-person dining.
Retail stores in western and central HRM must reduce the number of shoppers and staff to 25 per cent of their maximum capacity. Rec centres, libraries, museums, and casinos must close effective 12:01 a.m. on Thursday.
Nova Scotia cautions that anyone found breaching rules around illegal gatherings could be ticketed for $1,000—which applies to each attendee.
