'We can’t forget all we’ve learned': Expert’s advice as N.S. lifts mandatory COVID-19 measures Wednesday
Tuesday was the last day for the volunteer-run asymptomatic walk-in COVID-19 testing sites that were once a constant during the pandemic.
The 'Test to Protect' sites, spearheaded by Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Lisa Barrett near the beginning of the pandemic, wrapped up with a final testing clinic Tuesday afternoon.
"Those test distribution sites and the onsite testing are done, thank you to our thousands of volunteers that have put in so many hundreds and hundreds of hours," says Dr. Barrett.
93-year-old Maureen Wilson came for her final asymptomatic test at the clinic and says she will miss the convenience.
"We’ve been coming down here through the winter, not every day but every few weeks or so, just to keep in touch," she says
But COVID-19 testing will continue through Nova Scotia Health for anyone with symptoms and those at high risk, even after the province’s remaining mandatory pandemic measures, such as masking and self-isolation, end as of 12:01 a.m., Wednesday.
The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health announced the move Monday. Dr. Robert Strang said isolation remains 'strongly recommended' for anyone who tests positive for the virus. The province also said masking will shift from 'strongly recommended' to 'optional.'
"We really need to live," says Dr. Barrett. "But live with the knowledge that there is virus out there and use our vaccine plus strategy."
Dr. Barrett says that includes getting vaccinated and boosted and wearing masks in crowded indoor spaces.
"And certainly stay home when you’re sick if you at all can, and where tests are available, use them," she adds.
Nova Scotians are greeting the upcoming change with both optimism and anxiety.
"Kind of concerned," says resident Dean Lewis. "Because I hear our cases are over 200 a day still, people are still dying people are still getting sick, so I don’t think it’s wise."
For her part, Evelyn King feels it’s the right time to end mandatory measures. "I think it's good myself," she says. "And I might still wear the mask, I might, I’ll see."
"I’m definitely glad we have some freedoms over the summer," says Mary Cameron. "But it feels bizarre to have it gone all at once."
For Ronan Holland, the province’s decision doesn’t sit well.
"A bit premature in my view," he says. "And if I got COVID-19, I would stay at home and isolate."
Kelley Matheson would do the same.
"Whatever other people want to do is their choice I guess," she says. "But I’m going to keep wearing my mask and do what I always have been."
As COVID-19 variants continue to emerge and infect, the head of Doctors Nova Scotia, family physician Dr. Leisha Hawker supports the move.
"We’ve seen restrictions lifted in other provinces, and I agree with Dr. Strang and public health that it is time. We can’t keep these restrictions forever," says Dr. Hawker.
Dr. Hawker says the virus is still present and that we may see some waves in the fall, as people move back indoors. She says that’s why masking and hand-washing remain important.
"We’ve seen multiple variants, we’ve seen waves and essentially we know that we can’t really predict anything, and we have to just adjust as we are going."
"This is not COVID-19 fear," says Dr. Barrett. "If we want to live healthy and well in the next seven, eight, ten months, we can’t forget all of those things we’ve learned so far."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.