COVID Rules Relaxed for Special Groups
The Premier says, “With low case numbers, we can further ease some of the necessary restrictions that have been in place in long-term care, and on programming for seniors and adults living with disabilities.” Stephen McNeil added, “Residents need the connections with family and their communities for their physical and mental well-being.”
The Premier and Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, announced further loosening of restrictions for long-term care residents.
Residents can now leave for medical appointments accompanied by family members and the cap on the number of people a resident can identify to visit indoors has been lifted. Further, community-based adult day programs can resume with an approved plan that meets public health guidelines. Such programs include music, painting, exercise, crafts, and games.
The province is also giving special permission to four specific venues to host large audiences. Sydney’s Centre 200, the ScotiaBank Centre in Halifax and two motor speedways will be allowed larger numbers provided they are in groups (200 indoors or 250 outdoors) that can be separated from entry, during the activity, and to exit.
The move paves the way for Nova Scotia’s two Major Junior hockey teams to open the season with spectators.
Meanwhile, Riverside Speedway in Antigonish and Scotia Speedway near the Halifax airport will also be allowed to increase spectator numbers as long as they can be treated as separate cohorts during their time at the racetracks.
Before and after-school programs are now permitted to have cohorts or groups of 15 children without maintaining physical distance of two metres. Different groups of 15 must maintain physical distance as is the case for family bubbles. This is part of a host of measures in place for programs to operate safely, including masking, hand hygiene and increased environmental cleaning.
The chief medical officer says, “COVID-19 will be with us for some time, that's the reality we're living in.” Dr. Strang said, “Each change we make to our restrictions is a balance between the risk of COVID-19 and opportunities for us to safely resume important social, educational and economic activities.”
Strang suggests we will likely be living with COVID for one to three years.
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