HALIFAX -- The New Brunswick government is ramping up precautions against the new coronavirus -- now ordering anyone who travelled outside of Canada to stay away from schools in the province for two weeks.
Education Minister Dominic Cardy issued the directive late Monday.
“What we’re trying to do here in New Brunswick is make sure that we can protect our most vulnerable,” said Cardy during a news conference Tuesday.
The letter states that all children, students, staff, volunteers and family members who return from travelling abroad after Monday are required to avoid public schools, early-learning facilities and school district offices for 14 days from the date of their return to New Brunswick.
“The policy applies to travellers. If you went down south with your kids, it would apply to your whole family,” explained Cardy.
“If you went down south and left your kids behind … you then wouldn’t be able to go into the schools, so it applies to travellers. That’s the intent here, whether they’re young or old.”
The minister has also cancelled all international school-related travel for the remainder of the school year.
The latest measures come after Cardy distributed a letter on Friday, saying the two-week school ban applied only to those students, volunteers, staff and family members who had travelled to China, Italy, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong or Singapore.
There are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Brunswick at this time.
New Brunswick isn't the only Maritime province taking these types of precautions.
On Tuesday, Prince Edward Island announced that school-planned travel abroad for this month has been cancelled.
In a statement, Education and Lifelong Learning Minister Brad Trivers said "the decision to cancel school trips by the Public Schools Branch was not made easily. We know that students were looking forward to the experience; however, their safety always comes first."
