Phase 5 restriction changes ‘make good sense’: infectious disease specialist

Nova Scotia is set to enter its next reopening phase on Monday, and while it has altered restrictions compared to what was originally announced, an infectious disease specialist thinks it's the right move.

Phase 5 of Nova Scotia's reopening plan was expected to be the final phase where the province begins to transition towards living with COVID-19.

When it was announced, nearly all restrictions were supposed to be lifted including the mask mandate and gathering limits.

But now, most of the restrictions that were in Phase 4 will remain in the upcoming phase. That includes restrictions such as mandatory masking for indoor spaces, the same gathering limits of up to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors along with vaccination mandates.

“I've kind of taken to calling it 'Phase 5-ish,' and I'm really happy we're not using the word 'reopening' quite so much,” infectious disease specialist Dr. Lisa Barrett said. “We are in the middle of a fourth wave … and using words like 'reopening' is not, probably, in line with what's happening with cases and starting to see increasing hospitalizations.

“I was very happy that the masks were being maintained because we know they work in terms of preventing spread between either vaccinated or unvaccinated people. … And keeping a limit on gathering sizes, at least private gathering sizes, makes good sense to me.”

She told NEWS 95.7's fill-in host Todd Veinotte that most of the important restrictions have stayed and that continuing testing will help provide safety against COVID-19.

While some people might think keeping these restrictions is being too cautious, she said the province is doing quite well compared to other parts of Canada in terms of fighting COVID-19.

“I hope people realize we're still way further ahead than a lot of parts of the country in terms of our opening up,” she said. “When people did open up more too fast when the under 12s were unvaccinated, they ended up like Alberta. … It's worse than a state of emergency there right now. So we don't want to go down that road, and we still have lots of freedoms.”

As of 12:01 a.m. on Oct. 4, the province's vaccination policy will begin. The policy means people older than 12 years old will need two doses to go to restaurants, movies, sports events, theatre performances, social events and the gym.

Last week, Nova Scotia also announced that all health-care and long-term care workers in the province must be fully vaccinated by Nov. 30 to continue working.

Regarding that, Dr. Barrett said it's the right short-term decision while the province navigates itself through a fourth COVID-19 wave.

However, she said she's always struggled with mandates that further divide people. In fact, she recognizes that while there are people who are against the vaccine for preposterous reasons, there are some who actually have genuine concerns.

“Hopefully, we can help to answer for them with education and not make them feel excluded from society,” she said. “Mandates? Good for high-risk situations like health care and long-term care for the moment — I fully support that.”