{"id":11865,"date":"2021-03-31T08:03:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-31T11:03:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/?p=11865"},"modified":"2021-03-31T11:24:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-31T14:24:48","slug":"covid-update-14-new-cases-astrazeneca-plans-change-no-hope-for-early-ns-border-considerations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chmafm.com\/welcome\/covid-update-14-new-cases-astrazeneca-plans-change-no-hope-for-early-ns-border-considerations\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID update: 14 new cases, AstraZeneca plans change, no hope for early NS border considerations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Health Minister Dorothy Shephard speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. “I don’t see our restrictions coming down any faster than the dates that we had proposed,\u201d said Shephard. \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hear this story as reported on Tantramar Report<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell and Health Minister Dorothy Shephard in a COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, March 30, 2021. Photo: GNB communications<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Reporters asked Minister Shephard about the impact of the current outbreak and the increased risk of variants on the plans to fully reestablish the Atlantic Bubble on April 19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe don’t think that the Atlantic bubble is at risk,\u201d said Shephard. \u201cBut as Dr. Russell said, when you have over 1000 people isolating, we don’t know what’s going to come out of that. This is the variant, which is highly transmissible. So we’re just monitoring on a day to day basis. The premiers are staying in touch. And our goal is to get there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, Nova Scotia announced three new cases of COVID-19 bringing their total up to 24 active cases. Back on March 19, Nova Scotia stopped requiring 14 days of self-isolation for people entering their province from New Brunswick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHMA asked Shephard and Russell to explain the argument behind continuing the border restrictions with Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shephard said border restrictions were New Brunswick\u2019s key to success so far in the pandemic, though she acknowledged that, \u201cit’s not been an easy time for families, loved ones, to have to stand by these restrictions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also indicated the remaining border restrictions with Nova Scotia were partly in place to protect Nova Scotians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith regards to Nova Scotia,\u201d said Shephard, \u201clook, I know that their cases are down. I’m going to proudly say that Nova Scotia has us at their front and the Atlantic Ocean at their back. And so we carry a lot of responsibility in protecting them. So I don’t see our restrictions coming down any faster than the dates that we had proposed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back in mid-March when Nova Scotia made their decision to remove 14-day isolation requirements for people travelling from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia Premier Iain Rankin said he saw, \u201cno reason to wait\u201d to lift the restriction at the provincial border. Nova Scotia Medical Officer of Health Robert Strang pointed out that the two provinces had similar epidemiology and that he hoped New Brunswick would also consider lifting the border restrictions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more about the Nova Scotia announcement:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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NS ends border restrictions early, NB won’t follow suit, yet<\/a><\/blockquote>