Epidemiologist speaks on what lifting restrictions means for the COVID-19 pandemic
With Maritime province's preparing to soon drop their COVID-19-related restrictions, an infectious disease epidemiologist with the University of Waterloo is cautioning that the lifting of measures does not mean the end of the pandemic.
“It doesn’t mean the virus isn’t there, the virus is still there,” says Dr. Zahid Butt, “but what public health authorities are trying to do is go back to as near normal life as possible.”
Dr. Butt says that when dropping measures, health officials in the different provinces should also think about ramping up testing, in particular PCR testing, in order to better understand how the virus is behaving.
“The hospitalizations is an indicator of community transmission, but it is not the only indicator – so you would still have to know how much transmission is going on in the community,” says Dr. Butt.
The removal of restrictions though is coming as a relief to the tourist industry after about two years of the pandemic.
“Of course we’re extremely excited with the tourism season coming up,” says Carol Alderdice, president of the Tourism Industry Association of New Brunswick, “operators are reporting that bookings are coming in and continue to come in – which is really great.”
But Alderdice also says that the labour shortage remains a major problem – in fact, she says 30 per cent of the tourism jobs in New Brunswick are unfilled.
“I’m very happy they announced the regulations being removed early because it will give our operators time to get the labour they need to provide the customer service that our visitors are actually expecting," says Alderdice.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Prince William and Kate release photo of daughter Charlotte to mark ninth birthday
Prince William and his wife Kate released a picture of their daughter Charlotte to mark the princess's ninth birthday on Thursday.
Ontario man loses $1,500 applying for Nexus cards on social media
The trusted traveller program between Canada and the United States is extremely popular and almost two million Canadians have a Nexus card.
NEW Facial reconstruction reveals what a 40-something Neanderthal woman may have looked like
Scientists studying a Neanderthal woman's remains have painstakingly pieced together her skull from 200 bone fragments to understand what she may have looked like.
Campus protests: Israeli academics say their universities are 'best chance' for peace
One of the demands of pro-Palestinian activists who have set up protest encampments on university campuses in Canada and the United States is a severing of ties with Israeli universities.
Concerns about Plexiglas prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall Plexiglas barriers.
Weight-loss drug Wegovy available in Canada starting May 6
The makers of Ozempic say their weight-loss drug Wegovy will be available to patients in Canada starting Monday.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Goring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
This Canadian restaurant just lowered its prices. Here's how it did it
A Canadian restaurant lowered its prices this week, and though news of price tags dropping rather than climbing sounds unusual, the business strategy in this case is not, according to experts in the field.
NEW Companies letting customers opt out of Mother's Day ads
In an effort to balance the profitability of Mother's Day with the pain it causes some people, some brands are offering customers the choice to opt out of Mother's Day email advertising.