Mixed messaging as Nova Scotia prepares to enter Phase 5 in October
Nova Scotia is scheduled to move into Phase 5 of its recovery plan on October 4 if all goes according to plan.
At that time, the province is requiring mandatory vaccinations for anyone using non-essential services like restaurants, bars and gyms.
Gym owner Jackie Kellestine is concerned about a lack of communication between the province and the business community, making it unclear how the vaccine policy is to be handled moving forward.
"We pulled membership lists, pass holder lists, trying to see if we can integrate something into our scheduling software," says Kellestine, "reaching out to our staff, making sure they know to expect something."
“We know that there is a vaccine passport coming. We haven’t been told anything other than that, so the direction for me, I have nothing to tell my staff, I have nothing to tell me. I assume it’s going to be mandatory, that seems to be clear," Kellestine says.
Michael Chambers runs a surf and hobby shop. He says there is also a lack of continuity around the COVID-19 rules.
“Every time we turn around the rules seem to be different. When I go to different places I find that the rules don't apply the same as somewhere else," says Chambers.
Social distancing and masks will also no longer be required and that is a concern for some.
”As an infectious disease doctor I certainly have some challenges with the idea of masks going away on the 4th,” says Dr. Lisa Barrett.
Barrett says testing will continue to be an important weapon against COVID-19, even in Phase 5.
"Take home tests, especially in areas where there’s a virus circulating are definitely something we need to continue to consider as a key part of keeping community virus levels low," says Barrett.
Phase 5 was originally set to begin on Sept. 15 but was delayed because of the increasing numbers of COVID-19 cases in the province.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.