New Brunswick enters green phase with no pandemic restrictions
At midnight Friday, New Brunswick will lift all of its pandemic-related restrictions despite not reaching its vaccination target.
It's a move that some experts have criticized as being too sudden and not based in science.
As of Friday, the province is reporting that 66.7 per cent of the eligible population is now fully vaccinated. The province's original plan for getting to "green" was to hit the 75 per cent mark.
When the clock strikes 11:59 p.m. Friday night, the Plexiglas panels at the Cask and Kettle pub in uptown Saint John are coming down -- part of the changes taking place as New Brunswick goes "green."
"Masks will be optional for our staff and for our customers," said Cask & Kettle owner Shawn Verner. "They'll be on hand if a customer requests a server to wear a mask, we'll put it back on, but for the most part we'll be unmasked here."
At the Saint John City Market, starting Saturday morning, masks will no longer be required, the directional arrows on the ground will be removed, and the main eating area will be back to its pre-pandemic capacity.
"It's going to be weird at first," said Andrew MacDonald, the manager at the Saint John City Market. "People are used to this, but it's going to be a lot more open kind of route of traffic, and people can kind of come and go as they please. All the doors will be open, it's kind of crazy, it's been a while it's been like this."
When New Brunswick lifts its mandatory order, it means an end to all pandemic-related restrictions and mixed feelings for businesses.
"There's a sense of relief because it's been a really challenging 17 months and I think a lot of them are looking forward to perhaps recapturing some of that revenue that they've lost during that period," said John Wishart of the Greater Moncton Chamber of Commerce.
Wishart says there's also a sense of uncertainty of not knowing how to operate in this "new world" -- a new world and a new path that hasn't been without its share of criticism.
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs stands behind the decision to give the "green light" to reopening.
"Public Health reviewed all the science on this and what's going on around us and said 'we're comfortable to move,'" Higgs 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.
'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.
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.
Saskatchewan households will continue to receive carbon tax rebate: Trudeau
Households in Saskatchewan will continue to receive Canada Carbon Rebate payments, despite the province refusing to remit natural gas levies to the federal government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday.
''It's just so hard to let it go': Umar Zameer still haunted by death of Toronto police officer
'We hoped for this day, but we were scared that it would not never ever come because it took so long.' 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.
Senate expenses climbed to $7.2 million in 2023, up nearly 30%
Senators in Canada claimed $7.2 million in expenses in 2023, a nearly 30 per cent increase over the previous year.
Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko won't play in Game 2
The Vancouver Canucks will be without all-star goalie Thatcher Demko when they face the Nashville Predators in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Pedestrian, baby injured after stroller struck and dragged by vehicle in Squamish, B.C.
Police say a baby and a pedestrian suffered non-life-threatening injuries after a vehicle struck a baby stroller and dragged it for two blocks before stopping in Squamish, B.C.
North Bay doctor accused of assaulting patient, threatening another
A North Bay doctor is facing charges after allegedly assaulting a patient with a weapon and threatening another person at the hospital, police say.