On today’s CHMA daily news:
A new cluster of COVID-19 in PEI;
Sackville dog park too pricey for some councillors;
and the bubble brings massive amounts of traffic at the border.
But first, the COVID numbers update:
The province reported no new cases of COVID-19 again yesterday.
There is just 1 remaining active case in New Brunswick.
Testing in the province continues to slow down. Just under 1600 tests were completed in the past 7 days.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell has recommended a minimum of 2300 tests per week in the province.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic Bubble…
Prince Edward Island has a small cluster of COVID-19 cases, after 2 months without any trace of the disease.
On Saturday, PEI officials announced three positive cases, all pre-dating the Atlantic bubble, and all essential workers.
On Sunday, it announced two more.
A man in his 50s had travelled outside the province and had been self-isolating since returning.
A man in his 20’s—who had travelled to Nova Scotia on June 26th and had contact with someone who had traveled from the United States—did not self isolate upon his return on June 29th.
The man is asymptomatic, and had close contact with at least three others who have since tested positive.
One was a woman in her 20’s who works in a long term care home in PEI.
On Sunday the government announced it had tested 269 residents and staff of the care home where she worked, and all results were negative.
Over in Nova Scotia, no new cases of COVID 19 have been reported.
There are concerns in some communities over visitors from outside the Atlantic provinces who have not been self-isolating.
At a press briefing on Friday, Premier Stephen McNeil said the province would do more to check in on visitors to the province who have agreed to self isolate when they crossed the border.
It was a busy weekend at the New Brunswick-Nova Scotia border as the Atlantic bubble opened.
According to a representative from New Brunswick’s Department of Public Safety, over 9000 vehicles crossed the Aulac border on Friday.
On Sunday, the number of crossings was down to about 5200, still a high number for the provincial border.
People on social media reported long wait times, and Nova Scotia MLA Elizabeth Smitt-Mccrossin took to Facebook live to express concern over the massive amounts of traffic.
After posting a video of the situation Friday, she returned on Sunday and implored viewers to call their respective government to ask for solutions.
AUDIO SMITH MCCROSSIN
“even though our officials in both New Brunswick and Nova Scotia met Friday night to work on a solution clearly, a solution was not found. We’re back two long hours of weights at the New Brunswick Nova Scotia border. And I’m encouraging everyone to reach out to your premier whether it’s premier McNeil, or premier Higgs. To put pressure on to finding a solution. This clearly is not acceptable.”
New Brunswick has been asking travellers to complete a form when they enter the province, although officials say they will wave people through when traffic levels spike.
Sackville Town Council is expected to scrap plans to build an eighty-thousand-dollar dog park tonight when it holds its first meeting in July.
Initial plans called for spending twenty-five thousand dollars.
But after learning last fall that costs had risen to eighty-thousand-dollars for a dog park at Beech Hill Park, several councillors came out against it.
During a budget meeting in November, Councillor Joyce O’Neil said spending that much money made no sense to her:
AUDIO ONEILL
“I just can’t see $80,000 for a dog park when there’s so many other things that that money could be spent for. Different people in the public have talked to me on it, I don’t know about my fellow councillors, but on their behalf I really, I agree with them, $80,000 plus just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Councillor O’Neil said she had heard that many of the people who filled out an online survey on the park didn’t even own a dog.
In December, Councillor Bruce Phinney supported a motion to remove the dog park from Sackville’s 2020 budget:
AUDIO PHINNEY:
“I was talking to a dog owner today who was in the process of walking and this person had told me that a citizen of this town went to the dog park in Moncton and their dog was attacked viciously by a pit bull and its face was pretty mangled, so I think we need to turn around and look at this whole thing and the fact is that there are a number of dog owners in this town who actually say a dog park is not needed.”
Councillor Phinney said supporting a dog park would be financially irresponsible.
Aside from a proposed dog park, Sackville councillors will also be discussing a fifteen-thousand-dollar marketing plan for the town that it commissioned from a consulting firm last fall.
Members of the public can view tonight’s council meeting online by clicking a YouTube link on the town’s website.
Councillors will also be discussing two local events at tonight’s meeting.
The recently-announced Levee on the Lake and the longstanding August-long-weekend music festival, Sappyfest, are both listed on the agenda.
Levee on the Lake has created a concert venue on the shores of Silver Lake and are hosting their first free concert July 18th.
Audience members are invited to participate from the lake, in the watercraft of their choice.
Sappyfest announced in May that it would not attempt a physical event this year, but organizers say they are working on a “Plan B “virtual”” festival for 2020.
This is a special meeting of council, for discussion only. Any decisions will take place next Monday, July 13th.
While most of the meeting will be open to public viewing on Youtube, Council will go ‘in camera’ to discuss one item in private.
Local Sackville bar Ducky’s has announced it will be reopening today at 4pm in a post on Facebook.
Ducky’s social media manager said the bar would be “taking precautions” to make sure the environment remained “safe and fun.”
Ducky’s closed on March 17th, as per public health orders.
A Moncton resident and has started a conversation about defunding the police at a council committee meeting.
Charles MacDougall brought up the topic at the June meeting of Moncton’s Poverty and Social Inclusion committee, where he made the case the police resources could be reallocated to help with pressing social needs like housing support and affordability.
Erica Butler called him up to find out more.
AUDIO Charles MacDougall interview
Ends with.. reporting for CHMA, I’m Erica Butler.
That’s it for the CHMA daily news.
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