Many Nova Scotians worried about looser border restrictions in New Brunswick
As New Brunswick lifts all COVID restrictions, many Nova Scotians are questioning whether their neighbour is moving ahead too quickly.
"I'm a little worried about that. I'm a little concerned," said Lindsay Sooley, who was shopping at Sunnyside Mall Friday with her young daughter. "Not quite sure we're there yet and it kind of worries me that we have free reign to go back and forth with them."
"I think it's premature," said Darren Corning.
"We've taken a guarded approach in the Atlantic Provinces until now and to throw off the locks and basically throw them away is I don't think the right way to go."
As of 11:59 pm Friday, New Brunswick is dropping its COVID restrictions — including mandatory masks, gathering limits and border checks.
Epidemiologist Kevin Wilson said he isn't concerned.
"There's not any evidence of a circulating virus in New Brunswick. They're kind of in the same boat that we are (Nova Scotia) and so they're not going to kind of Friday night, lift restrictions and then Saturday morning have a massive horrific outbreak. That's just not really how it works," Wilson said.
The question he believes needs to be answered is how will the Atlantic Provinces approach the risk of importing virus in the longer run, adding it's not a New Brunswick-specific problem.
"I think you're probably going to see they're going to be more tolerant of that risk but I think it might have different approaches for making testing available or requiring quarantine going forward and it's actually something the provinces should at least in the broad strokes outline," Wilson said.
Nova Scotia's Department of Health and Wellness said it doesn't anticipate any changes to Nova Scotia's border policy as New Brunswick moves into green.
Amherst's mayor David Kogon said people haven't talked to him about New Brunswick's changes. He thinks it shows the community isn't anticipating much of an impact.
"New Brunswickers when they come into Nova Scotia will have to abide by the Nova Scotia public health rules and so they will be wearing masks when they're in public places," Kogon said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
BREAKING Mounties will not be charged in shooting death of B.C. Indigenous man
Three Mounties in British Columbia will not face charges in the killing of a 38-year-old Indigenous man on Vancouver Island in 2021.
Canada's favourite sport to watch is hockey, survey shows
The 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs have already delivered a fever level of fan excitement in Canada.
Douglas DC-4 plane with 2 people on board crashes into river outside Fairbanks, Alaska
A Douglas C-54 Skymaster airplane crashed into the Tanana River near Fairbanks on Tuesday, Alaska State Troopers said.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
'It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
“It's just so hard to let it go. I mean, everyone is telling me, ‘you have to move on,’ but I know someone is not here [anymore]. So I don't know how I will move on." That’s what Umar Zameer, the man recently acquitted in the death of a Toronto police officer, told CTV News Toronto in a sit-down interview on Tuesday.
NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet
NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth hadn't sent home any understandable data since last November.