Newfoundland and Labrador has gone from being virus-free to having the most number of active cases of COVID-19 in Atlantic Canada.
But making face masks mandatory in public are still not on the radar, despite the fact that Nova Scotia will be going that route starting Friday.
Newfoundland and Labrador has four active cases. One is a woman who returned from travel to Southeast Asia last week. Because she reported being symptomatic on the flight to Newfoundland, passengers aboard Air Canada Flight AC8006 departing Toronto for St. John’s on Thursday, July 16 have also been alerted to contact public health at 811.
The three other cases stem from a man who developed symptoms while self-isolating upon returning to central Newfoundland from rotational work outside the province. He and two close contacts now have the virus. One is believed to be his daughter.
No new cases were reported Monday.
After a small cluster of cases earlier in the month, P.E.I. now has two active cases. New Brunswick has three. Nova Scotia has no active cases, and hasn’t reported a new one in 10 days.
Must wear masks in N.S.
On Friday, Nova Scotia will effect a mandatory mask law for most work and retail spaces as well as common areas — the first Atlantic province to do so. This includes restaurants, where patrons will be required to wear masks when not seated and consuming food or beverages, as well as gyms, where clients must wear them when not working out.
Businesses will have the right to refuse entry or service to people who don't wear a mask where required.
Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer said last week the move is a precaution against a second wave of COVID-19 as the province continues to relax restrictions.
Dr. Robert Strang said it’s part of a multipronged approach that includes continued advice to maintain physical distancing and wash hands regularly.
"It is our best chance to keep our communities and the economy as open as possible as we move into the fall," he said.
While infants and people with valid medical reasons are exempt from wearing a mask, Strang said he wants to minimize the latter by suggesting those with anxiety issues practise wearing one at home for short periods first.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, there are no imminent plans to make mask-wearing the law.
“Right now, given where we are with regards to our prevalence, we are not mandating masks,” Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald said earlier this month, “but we certainly strongly recommend that people wear them when they are inside, enclosed spaces or even when they’re outside if they’re not able to physically distance.”
Fitzgerald admitted there have been a lot of discussion among her counterparts, and said she remains flexible.
“Should our epidemiology change, or our prevalence change, that’s something certainly that we would have to consider.”
P.E.I. also has not indicated any plans to mandate mask-wearing, but New Brunswick did decide in early June to do so — then backtracked.
"Cabinet has reviewed the decision and it was not the intent to place an additional expectation on businesses or the public regarding wearing a face covering in a public space," the province said in a news release.
Peter Jackson is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter covering health care for The Telegram.
