Nova Scotia Imposes Stricter Mask Requirements As Covid-19 Variant Cases Spike
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government has introduced stricter mask-wearing policies as it attempts to blunt the impact of more contagious Covid-19 strains arriving in the province.
The new rules require people to wear masks on outdoor commercial patios at restaurants and bars. The rules are the same as those in place inside eating establishments: patrons must wear a mask when entering or leaving but can remove them when eating and drinking.
Mandatory mask requirements also extend to outdoor spaces where it’s difficult to social distance. That means masks are now required in places like outdoor farmer’s markets and festivals where six-foot social distancing can’t be guaranteed.
Dr. Robert Strang, the province’s chief medical officer of health, said in an April 16 press briefing the new rules are a response to the increasing number of variant Covid-19 strains appearing in the province.
“This is due to the now-common variant strains and their much greater ability to be transmitted between one person and another,” he said.
Nova Scotia relies on a national lab to identify whether positive Covid-19 cases are specific variant strains. However, the province has a screening process that identifies whether a positive test is some kind of variant.
Strang said that the screening process is now showing nearly all new Covid-19 cases in the province are variant strains.
“In the last two, three days virtually all our samples now are screening in for a variant,” he said. “Moving forward we can anticipate that any case… will come back variant strains.”
The good news, Strang said, is that almost all new Covid-19 cases in the province are related to travel and Nova Scotia’s 14-day self-isolation requirements for people arriving in the province are limiting spread.
“This shows that our border measures are working,” he said.
He said the more contagious nature of the variant strains is worrying but that it doesn’t change how the province responds on a case-by-case basis.
Strang said he and his team will continue to adapt other public health measures to ensure the more contagious variant strains don’t spread through the province.
Part of that strategy is the continued vaccination of Nova Scotians.
Premier Iain Rankin said that “at some point [Friday]” the province will have administered more than 200,000 vaccine doses.
As of April 15, nearly 20 percent of the population had received their first dose of vaccine and rollout continues to pick up steam. The province says it will administer 54,000 vaccine doses just this week.
“We’re doing more than we expected at this point in the rollout,” Rankin said. He added that any Nova Scotian who wants to be vaccinated should get their first dose by the end of June.