The province’s Chief Medical Officer of Health says it’s best students stay where they are this Christmas.
Dr. Robert Strang made the comments at Friday’s COVID-19 update.
Dr. Strang says 14-day self isolation applies to anyone returning to the Atlantic bubble.
“For families that have students that are studying outside of the bubble that might be thinking about coming home for the holidays; as tough as it is to say, the best choice would be for them to, actually, stay where they’re at.”
Dr. Strang says the new rules announced Monday also apply.
He says that means if a student comes home for Christmas, or comes back into the Atlantic bubble after returning home for Christmas, they and the entire household they’re staying with must complete a full 14-day self isolation.
“There are implications of bringing somebody from outside Atlantic Canada home for the holidays,” he says. “We need to be very careful about how we do that, and I know that’s a tough message to deliver, but it’s about our collective wellbeing.”
He says it might not be possible for some students to stay where they are but encouraged everyone to stay put if at all possible.
Dr. Strang announced two new cases of COVID-19 Friday. One northern zone case is travel related and one central zone case is under investigation.
He says neither are linked to a Halifax-area cluster, where he says case numbers have plateaued and is now under control.
The provincial total remains at 19 active infections.
