Two more presumptive cases of the COVID-19 virus have been identified in Nova Scotia.
The two cases are in Halifax Regional Municipality and are related. A man and woman, both in their 50s, were in close contact with people who had recently travelled outside the country, They are in self-isolation and are recovering at home, the Health Department said in a news release Monday afternoon.
At a news conference Monday afternoon with Premier Stephen McNeil, Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, said it appears the couple was infected at events they attended along with people who recently returned from international travel. Strang said public health investigators are looking into the nature of the events, where they were held and who attended.
"It's like a police investigation," Strang said. "It's called shoe-leather epidemiology."
Two other people in the household are in self-isolation and being tested.
The two new cases bring the total to five presumptive cases in Nova Scotia.
Economic fallout
McNeil reiterated the familiar refrain on the importance of self-isolation, particularly from people who recently have been out of the country.
"It's tough for me to say this but if your grandparents are coming home from the United States after being there for a number of months, don't go see them for two weeks," he said.
He also urged families with children not to get their grandparents to babysit amid the closure of child-care centres that came into effect Tuesday. Elderly people are much more vulnerable to respiratory viruses such as COVID-19 and seasonal flu.
McNeil said child-care centres will continue to receive the usual bursaries from the government and the province also plans to cover the lost revenue from the amount contributed by parents, "which means they will be able to pay their employees as we work our way through the period of time that they'll be closed."
"This is having a tremendous impact, not only in our economy but on the national economy," McNeil said, referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement of a $1-billion emergency fund to address the outbreak.
It's not known how much of that money will go to Nova Scotia but McNeil said the province plans to help small businesses deal with the economic fallout.
He emphasized the importance of individual action in slowing down this outbreak.
"Eighty per cent of this is in the hands of each of us," he said. "By cleaning your hands and by doing the proper protocol of self-isolating ourselves, that's the gift we have about this virus in my view, that every one of us can take the appropriate steps to protect the people we love and to protect the people who are around."
Strang said public health is testing upwards of 200 COVID-19 tests a day. As of Tuesday, 676 people had been tested.
Strang was asked about anecdotes that people who should be self-isolating - such as those who recently travelled internationally - are not doing so.
He responded he believes the "vast majority" are obeying the isolation rules but said "there's an order under the Health Protection Act, . . . if we're aware that somebody, they're actively non-compliant, then we can actually take them (into isolation).
"If Nova Scotians are aware of somebody's who's not, take on the responsibility to have a polite conversation with that individual to help them understand why it's important, that we can't think about ourselves, we have to think about our community."
As for more restrictive society-wide measures that may be taken, such as closing restaurants and non-essential businesses as Quebec has done, McNeil said the province will do whatever needs to be done to protect public health.
Strang said he and his public health colleagues from across Canada will talk Wednesday about the effectiveness of the measures that have been taken so far.
