Why Nova Scotia Businesses Are Choosing To Keep Mask Mandates
HALIFAX—On March 21, after nearly two years of fluctuating public health restrictions tied to Covid-19, the government of Nova Scotia eliminated almost all of its Covid-related rules.
The move was a big deal for businesses that are no longer required to limit the number of people in their stores or demand their customers wear a mask.
But while businesses have suffered tremendously under public health restrictions, many aren’t ready to give those restrictions up. Across the province, everyone from small cafes to major institutions are keeping mask mandates in place.
Many Don’t Yet Feel Safe
Shannon Marshall owns Indulgence Intimate Apparel in Dartmouth. She’s telling her staff and customers to keep wearing masks in the shop.
She says she and her employees weren’t comfortable dropping health measures so suddenly.
“We’re not ready,” she says. “We want to see what happens with the lifting of the masks publicly before lifting them in the store—and see how Covid actually trends. Because, in most situations, I do believe the numbers are actually going up across the board. So we’re just playing it safe.”
Some of Indulgence’s staff are also immune-compromised, so Marshall is extra aware of their safety and comfort.
She says she plans to keep the mask rules in place at least until the end of April to give her a better sense of what’s happening with Covid. But even once she drops mask requirements for customers, she and her staff will probably keep wearing them.
Lorne Caborn and his partner Rachelle Brown own Crab Apple Cookery and Café, near Tantallon. They’re not asking their customers to put on masks but have both decided to keep wearing them at work.
Caborn says that he’s still worried about catching Covid-19 no matter what the government rules are.
“We’re a small business, you know? If we get sick then we shut down, so it’s just kind of an extra layer of protection for us. I’ve got fire insurance but I also have fire extinguishers, right?” Caborn says.
He says they’re not making customers wear masks because they “just want to be as inclusive as possible.”
Government ‘Passing The Buck’ To Businesses
With official mask rules gone, many business owners feel a responsibility to protect their staff and customers from a Covid-19 threat they don’t believe has disappeared. But now they must do it without government rules shielding them.
Cal Johnston of Strange Adventures Comics and Curiosities believes the government is simply “passing the buck” to businesses by lifting public health measures.
“They’re lifting the mandates but we’re not seeing improvement in case counts. If anything, case counts have gone up and hospitalizations are quite high,” Johnston argues.
Johnston says health officials “are all saying the same thing: you should still be wearing masks. They are lifting the mandates because of political pressure but they recommend you still follow the same procedures.”
Strange Adventures still requires customers to wear masks and limits the number of people in its stores. That decision has put the shop in the crosshairs of more than a few online trolls.
Johnston is frustrated he’s been left in a position where doing what he feels is the right thing could affect his bottom line. At least when government restrictions were in place, he says, it gave businesses like his some cover.
“It was very nice for the small businessman to be able to shrug and say ‘hey, man, freggin’ government,’” he says.
Balancing Harms And Benefits Of Restrictions
At a Covid briefing March 18, Dr. Robert Strang admitted that relaxing restrictions will most likely mean increased case counts and hospitalizations in the province.
That’s why, he said, people “need to keep taking the virus seriously.” He recommended continuing to wear masks in indoor settings and keeping gathering limits small.
Johnston points out the government is asking people to keep wearing masks and warning about the dangers of Covid-19 at the same time it’s lifting the rules that would make them do that.
The fact that larger organizations, like the Discovery Centre and Halifax Chamber of Commerce, are putting their own mask rules in place indicates a wider discomfort among the Nova Scotia business community with the province’s decision.
Premier Tim Houston justifies dropping restrictions by pointing to the effects they can have on the economy and people’s mental health. He says it’s important to balance the risks of Covid-19 with the real harms restrictions can cause.
He and Strang have both argued that the province’s wide vaccine adoption rate does a lot to mitigate the risks of Covid.
When he first announced the March 21 end of Covid restrictions, Houston said they have always been “a balancing act between keeping people safe and preventing other harms, and we knew we wouldn’t need them forever.”
“Now, it’s time to stop pulling the big levers, like broad restrictions, and shift to personal actions and responsibility.”
Trevor Nichols is the associate editor of Huddle, based in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].