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
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.