Provincewide shutdown begins in Nova Scotia as officials report 75 new COVID-19 cases

As the province locked down Wednesday and military members joined Nova Scotia’s effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, Premier Iain Rankin said the measures are part of a broader strategy to beat back the virus.  Rankin says “We are limiting movement, we are testing at a record rate to detect the virus and we are rolling out our vaccine.”  The premier announced that as early as Friday, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine would be offered to people 40 to 54 years old. Rankin added that by the end of Wednesday, more than 300,000 doses of vaccine will have been administered across the province.  Chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang said cancelled appointments for AstraZeneca shots as other vaccines become available have opened availability of AstraZeneca, with as many as 10,000 doses still unused.  Premier Iain Rankin and Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia’s chief medical officer of health, will provide an update at 3 p.m. this afternoon. (With files from the Canadian Press)

Seventy-five new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Nova Scotia on Wednesday. The figure was down from the record 96 cases reported by the province Tuesday.  Nova Scotia has 489 active cases of COVID-19. Eleven people are in hospital, including three in ICU.  Meanwhile, the re-opening of the Atlantic Bubble is on hold for now after Premier Iain Rankin and the other Atlantic Premiers discussed the issue Tuesday night.  The re-opening had been delayed until at least next Monday, but the premiers have agreed that with the current case counts and variants of concern, the current travel restrictions will stay in place.  The premiers will revisit the issue of reopening of the Atlantic Bubble when case numbers have decreased.

 

Public Health is advising of some locations in Truro of potential exposure to COVID-19.

For three of them, anyone who worked at or visited the locations during the specified times should book a COVID-19 test regardless of whether they have COVID-19 symptoms. Those locations are:

•               Sobeys (985 Prince St, Truro) on April 24 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
•               Walmart (140 Wade Rd, Truro) on April 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
•               Canadian Tire (90 Robie St, Truro) on April 24 from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

There’s one more location, and public health says anyone at that location during the specified times, whether they have symptoms or not, is required to self-isolate while waiting for their test result. If you get a negative result, you do not need to keep self-isolating.That location is:

•               Irving Big Stop Truro Heights (86 Connector Rd, Truro) on April 23 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

All potential exposure notifications in the province are listed here: http://www.nshealth.ca/covid-exposures

 

Nova Scotia’s regulated child-care centres and licensed Family Home Child Care Agencies will remain open during the province-wide shutdown.  To help create spaces for the children of essential workers, parents will not be charged fees if they choose to keep their children at home and they will not lose their spot when their children return. To support the sector with the costs of keeping child-care centres open, government says subsidies will be available on a sliding scale for families with an income less than $70,000.

 

Families remember those lost in Cyclone helicopter crash on one-year anniversary

Canadian Armed Forces members (clockwise from top left) Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, Capt. Brenden MacDonald, Capt. Kevin Hagen, Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins and Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke are shown in a Department of National Defence handout photos. All were aboard a Cyclone helicopter which crashed into the Ionian Sea off the coast of Greece on April 29, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Department of National Defence

 

For family members of the six Canadian Forces members lost when a Cyclone helicopter crashed in the Mediterranean a year ago, this week is a time of grieving loved ones amid the challenges of a pandemic.  At the CH-148 helicopter’s home base in Nova Scotia, Sailor First Class Shane Cowbrough had hoped to be gathering with crew members of the HMCS Fredericton on Thursday. His stepdaughter, Sub-Lt. Abbigail Cowbrough, was among those who died on April 29, 2020.  But his plans to be with Abbigail’s shipmates at Canadian Forces Base Shearwater on the anniversary of the crash off Greece have been cancelled.  “That gathering would have been a healing point, but we’ll raise a glass to our fallen comrades at some point down the road when (COVID-19) numbers are back under control,” said Cowbrough, who entered the military at roughly the same time as his stepdaughter.  Originally the military had planned an outdoor ceremony to unveil a memorial near the entrance to the base in Eastern Passage, but due to COVID-19 restrictions the ceremony today will be virtual and released on video. Family members were being allowed to visit the site Wednesday in small groups.

The crash was the largest loss of life in one day for the Canadian Armed Forces since six Canadian soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan on Easter Sunday 2007.  Cowbrough served with Sub-Lt. Matthew Pyke, a naval warfare officer in the Royal Canadian Navy, while the aircrew included Capt. Maxime Miron-Morin, Capt. Kevin Hagen, Master Cpl. Matthew Cousins, and Captain Brenden Ian MacDonald, a Pilot, originally from New Glasgow.

In the meantime, the crew of HMCS Fredericton has created a memorial patch, designed by Sgt. Scott Galbraith, who participated in the deployment aboard the frigate. It depicts the evening sky that would have been over the sea when the helicopter crashed.  Military members will wear the patch until the anniversary and then bring it back annually to wear in the month before the date of the crash, as a lasting tribute. (The Canadian Press)

 

Slight drop at the pumps in N.B.

A small drop in New Brunswick fuel prices overnight. Regular self-serve gas is down 2.2 cents from last week.  Diesel was down nine tenths of a cent.  Nova Scotia will set its fuel prices at midnight tonight.

 

Northumberland Ferries has announced that service between Wood Islands and Caribou will be resuming on Monday. 

Under the guidance of the Chief Public Health and Medical Officers in each province, service is limited to large commercial trucks (larger than 30’ in length) and their drivers. Service to all other travellers is not allowed at this point.  The schedule for May 3rd through the 31st will offer service on weekdays only, Monday through Friday, with four sailings daily from each port.