Some Maritimers planning international trips even though governments advise against

For some Canadians, a big part of winter is heading south to escape the cold.

“I’m going to Holguin in Cuba,” says Angela Carver, who lives in Windsor, N.S.

Carver typically visits down south every year, however the pandemic forced her to stay home in 2021.

Now, with both COVID-19 vaccines and a booster shot in her arm, she leaves for Cuba on Sunday.

“Do you know what, COVID is all around us. Basically, I’ll follow all the same protocols that I do here. When we’re inside, I'll have a mask on but for the most part, if I'm outdoors on the beach, I won’t mask or anything there,” Carver says.

Lewis Efford from Newfoundland feels the same. He has been wintering in Florida every year since 2012.

He's back in the U.S. for the first time in two years and says in America, people are treating the pandemic a lot different than in his home country.

“A couple of doors up last night there was a street party and they had probably 50 people there and they all sat around and partied close, elbow-to-elbow. I was invited but I said no. I wasn’t going to take a chance on going,” Efford says from his home in Homosassa, Fla.

Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Robert Strang, says right now is not the time to be thinking about travelling internationally, with the highly transmissible Omicron variant causing record-high levels of infection.

As a result, health officials across the Maritimes are dealing with record levels of hospitalizations.

“Now is the time to slow down, stay close to home and limit the amount of social contact you have. You will get a chance to travel, that is coming,” Strang says.

Strang says he'll only be comfortable giving the all-clear to travel once global vaccination levels increase

He says if you do decide to head south, make sure you have your COVID-19 shots and carry proof.