On today’s CHMA daily news:
- Challenges at the Aulac border;
- Nova Scotia’s new border paperwork;
- Saying Goodbye to Fridgee;
- Saying Hello to SEQuYN;
- Mount Allison Library offering pick-up service;
- and the COVID numbers update.
COVID numbers
New Brunswick has gone two weeks with no new reported cases of COVID-19.
There is just one remaining active case in New Brunswick, and the person is not in hospital.
Testing in the province continues below the threshold recommended by Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell in May.
256 new test results were reported yesterday, with 136 of those in the south-east region.
Both Nova Scotia and PEI reported no new cases of COVID-19 yesterday.
Prince Edward Island’s chief medical officer of health is strongly urging people to wear non-medical face masks indoors, but so far isn’t recommending they be mandatory.
Dr. Heather Morrison said Tuesday face masks should be worn in any indoor setting where people cannot maintain a physical distance of two metres from each other.
Morrison’s recommendations are in line with public health advice in New Brunswick.
Nova Scotia’s new border paperwork
Nova Scotia has released a tracking and self-declaration form to be required for travellers entering Nova Scotia from outside the Atlantic Canadian bubble.
When the bubble launched on Friday, both New Brunswick and PEI had information tracking forms in place.
Nova Scotia introduced theirs after an American student arrived in Halifax and did not self-isolate.
He had contact with someone from PEI, who later went on to infect three other people on the Island.
When he tried to cross into PEI with his friend, he was turned away at the Confederation Bridge due to lack of paperwork, and returned to Halifax.
After PEI alerted Nova Scotia officials to the possible source of the new cluster of cases, they tracked down the American student and put him into isolation in a Halifax hotel.
Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil says the new form requirement will only apply to visitors coming from outside of Atlantic Canada.
Non-bubble visitors must provide an address where they will be staying and self-isolating for 14 days and a phone number where they can be reached 24/7.
Provincial staff will contact those visitors every day to make sure they are observing the 14-day self-isolation requirement.
If visitors who are supposed to be self-isolating do not answer their phone after three attempts in one day, police will be called and in-person checks will be conducted.
The fine for violating the Nova Scotia Health Protection Order is $1,000 for a first offence.
Challenges at the Aulac border
New Brunswick’s Public Safety minister says that officials at the Aulac border will continue to waive Atlantic Canadian cars through the checkpoint when traffic waits become too long and start to pose “a safety concern.”
On CBC Radio, local MLA Megan Mitton said that although the bubble has been positive for families being reunited, the delays at the border are a challenge.
Mitton said she is concerned that the four provinces have not agreed on protocols at airports, and coordinated efforts to protect the bubble’s exterior borders.
Say goodbye to Fridgee
Fridgee, the online grocery store operated by former Black Duck owners Alan Barbour and Sarah Evans, is closing down.
Today is the last day for pick-ups from the store.
Co-owner Al Barbour says it’s a very difficult time to try something new.
Click to listen:
“Everyone likes to use the word pivot. It sounds like an intentional move by the business operator. But really a pivot is just an attempt to try to stay solvent. Like we had businesses, we were forced to shut them down. Some of them are viable, some of them are no longer viable. There’s a lot of difficulty in operating in the new environment. We decided that we had a lot of stock and we wanted to try to sell it and if it was going to… if it was going to gain any traction, we would maybe continue it through the summer and the fall, but it didn’t really get to the point where it made any sense as a viable business going forward in Sackville.“
Barbour says that Sackville has lots of local food production that doesn’t match the demand for local food.
And he says the fact that many suppliers now have online distribution of their own means a service like Fridgee is less workable.
Barbour also says he was discouraged when Sackville Town Council failed to support the idea of an economic recovery fund for local businesses using some of the town’s expected surplus.
Click to listen:
“...If there was any sort of evidence of forward momentum economically in Sackville from the political side of the town, I know that the some of the town staff has been trying to get something going, but there’s there’s no political support behind that.“
Barbour says he and his partner have no further plans for businesses in Sackville or New Brunswick.
Click to listen:
“It’s really difficult to make plans during this time period. We’ve been operating a business in Sackville for eight years. We will not operate another business in Sackville. I think we are done with Sackville. I think that in the eight years that we operated there was a great economic expansion in North America. And there was a lot of opportunities for the small town to capitalize on that and grow a good business foundation. Same with the province. But they didn’t take advantage of that time in our opinion. And it’s really challenging before the pandemic to operate in New Brunswick and in Sackville. And now it’s almost impossible. It’s very, very difficult.”
Before the pandemic hit, The Black Duck had nine full time employees.
Barbour and Evans made the decision to permanently close down the cafe shortly after the COVID shutdown.
Their online grocery store Fridgee will fill its last orders today.
Filling in the gaps in queer sex education
AIDS New Brunswick and Imprint Youth Association are launching a collaborative web project, SEQuYN this week.
SEQuYN is a website dedicated to information and resource compilation about queer youth sexual health.
AIDS New Brunswick’s Operations Director Kris Foreman described the website as “…a bank of resources, information, and media related to Sexual Education for Queer and Trans youth.”
The website includes sections on things like Hormone Replacement Therapy, Sexually Transmitted and Blood Borne Infections, masturbation, and anal sex.
Foreman says the information is all researched and factual, and gives information often missed in sexual education classrooms.
There are sections for both youth and educators, and a place to order safer sex and other harm reduction supplies from AIDS NB.
The website launches this Friday, July 10th, with a live Instagram video featuring local queer artists and musicians.
Friday is also the deadline for an artwork competition for queer creators with a chance to win Venus Envy Gifts cards.
To find out more, find SEQuYN – Sex Education Queer Youth Need – on Facebook.
Ralph Pickard Bell open for pick-ups
The Mount Allison Library is offering pick-up services for items borrowed from their collection.
People can request for books or other items from the Ralph Pickard Bell or Music Library by using an online request form, through the Novanet catalogue, or by calling or emailing the library.
The service is open to all library patrons, including community members.
Staff will check out requested items, and have them ready for pick-up in the Bell library lobby.
Items will be wrapped and marked with the borrower’s name.
Library staff will disinfect touchable surfaces in the lobby once patrons collect their items and leave.
All books are quarantined for 72 hours upon return to the library and before being re-circulated to other patrons.
Pick-up times are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon, or any time by appointment during regular weekday library hours.
CHMA Daily News is hosted Mahalia Thompson-Onichino, and produced by Erica Butler, with contributions from Bruce Wark, Meg Cunningham, Aura-Lynn Groomes, Geoff de Gannes, and James Anderson.
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