Nova Scotia Targets Metro Halifax With New Gathering Limits, Rules For Bars
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government is targeting metro Halifax with a slew of new public health restrictions, including mass targeted testing, as it tries to prevent a burgeoning Covid-19 outbreak from spiraling out of control.
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said today community spread of Covid-19 “continues to increase” in Nova Scotia, with 51 new cases identified in the province this month.
Five new cases were identified Thursday and three are still under active investigation. As of November 20, Nova Scotia has 28 active cases of COVID-19.
Approximately 10-12 of those cases can’t be traced back to a specific source. Strang said that likely means community spread has been ongoing for at least a couple of weeks.
Strang said the virus is now being spread in Nova Scotia primarily by young people aged 18-35 who are socializing in large groups.
“It is now social activity that’s fanning the flames and causing the virus to spread more rapidly,” he said.
Premier Stephen McNeil added that young people in the Halifax Regional Municipality are “living as if Covid doesn’t exist.”
“Let’s call this what it is, we’re having a problem with 18-to-35-year-olds: they’re going out when they’re feeling sick, they’re going out in large groups, and quite frankly different groups, and are not distancing,” McNeil said.
Because of that activity, the province will put in place a series of new public health restrictions in and around the HRM. The new rules go into effect on November 23.
In the specific area covered by the new rules, “social bubbles” where social distancing isn’t required will now be limited to five people, down from the previous 10. (The rules are slightly different for households with more than five people. Click here for more detailed information).
Larger, informal events where people congregate under social distancing rules (such as neighbourhood street parties) will also be limited to 25 people, down from 50.
Indoor events run by a recognized business or organization will now be allowed to fill up a venue only to 50 percent capacity, up to a maximum of 100 people. The previous limit was 200.
Outdoors, meanwhile, they will be limited to 150 people, down from 250.
The government also placed new limits on long-term care facilities, limiting on-site gatherings to five people (down from 10) and prohibiting all-day programs for seniors.
These new gathering limits will apply in all of HRM except the areas east of Porters Lake to Ecum Secum. The limits will also apply to the Enfield and Mount Uniacke areas in both HRM and Hants County.
The new rules will initially be put in place for 28 days, or two full virus incubation periods.
McNeil said Nova Scotia is at a “critical point” in its Covid-19 outbreak and if we don’t act now things can quickly escalate. He said the “targeted approach” the government is taking is intended to stop Covid-19 from spreading beyond the HRM.
But the new rules cover more than just gathering limits.
The province is also making it mandatory for licensed establishments across the entire province to collect names and phone numbers of all patrons, as well as the time and date they were there. Those rules won’t apply to quick-service restaurants like fast food and pizza joints.
“Our restaurants and bars want to stay open, but they agree we need to put in place some new measures to protect Nova Scotians and their employees,” McNeil said.
The government will also start a voluntary, asymptomatic testing strategy for staff at licensed establishments in metro HRM, which Strang guessed could cover about 500-600 people.
Strang said the targeted approach is an initial step, but that the provinces’ approach “may well change in a week or days to come” if the measures aren’t working.
He said the idea is to target the most high-risk areas for Covid-19 transmission, while still allowing businesses to stay open.
“When we say we’re taking stronger action, it doesn’t mean we’re shutting everything down. We know that shutting down the whole province would come with many personal and economic costs and we do not want to have to do that again unless absolutely necessary,” he said.
However, he reiterated that tighter restrictions are still very much on the table.
“Further limitations based on hours of operations, reducing the number of people that can come in at a time, those are all things that are on the table,” he said. “We will go there if we have to.”