'This is great': Nova Scotians enjoy the first day of summer as the province announces no new COVID-19 cases
Many Haligonians spent the first official day of summer soaking up the sun.
Public Health officials in the province reported no new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, for the first time since the end of March.
"I'm happy that the numbers are down and we're able to start opening up. I found this last lockdown harder than all the other ones, so this is great,” said Debbie Scott.
The province is currently in the second of a five phase COVID-19 reopening plan.
"I can come out more and I'm not as scared of the virus anymore,” said Marissa Ma. “I got a vaccine so, I just feel maybe our life going to go back to normal."
Nova Scotia is opening up to the rest of Atlantic Canada on Wednesday. That means people coming from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador will not need to isolate when they visit the province.
"It would be nice to have the rest of Canada open. We have family back in Ontario and we haven't seen them in a year and a half,” said Lesly Reynolds.
As of Monday, 775,902 doses of vaccine have been administered in Nova Scotia. Nearly 85,000 of them, second doses.
Members of the Canadian Armed Forces will once again be helping to administer vaccine, as they did in the spring.
"We lead the country in our first dose uptake now we're really focused on our second doses and we're really trying to get as many doses into arms as soon as we can. So, we put the request in to see if there's resources available and extremely happy that they're helping with the efforts,” said Premier Iain Rankin.
With 76 active cases, Nova Scotia’s COVID-19 case count continues to trend downward but the number of people getting tested for the virus is also down.
"We know Delta virus is in all of our provinces and it is more easy to transmit and we can't just rely on first doses of vaccine. Therefore, for the foreseeable future, the best way for us to stay open is to combine vaccines and regular testing,” said Infectious Disease Specialist and Scientist Dr. Lisa Barrett.
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