Some are asking why government officials don’t just put the province on a two-week lockdown to eradicate the illness, but Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says the evidence is clear—that strategy simply doesn’t work.

Dr. Fitzgerald tells reporters that COVID-19 has a 14-day incubation period in a single person, but shutting down the province for two weeks simply won’t work.

There may still be people who come into the province afterwards with the virus and the province will only have to shut everything down again. She says a two-week complete shutdown is not effective.

Health Minister John Haggie agrees.

“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” says Haggie, who indicates that at three weeks in, this is only the beginning.

He anticipates we will experience public health restrictions for at least another three months.