Following an emergency meeting on Monday, Pictou Landing First Nation has decided to implement a community-wide curfew.
The First Nation won’t allow traffic in or out of its community from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., except for essential service workers, those working off-reserve and returning home or for an emergency.
Chief Andrea Paul and council posted the new “community curfew” guidelines to the First Nation’s Facebook page on Monday.
While the curfew is in effect, community members are allowed to go for walks but must remain in their homes from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. Security will be stationed at checkpoints entering the community, documenting anyone who comes and goes during the day.
Those entering the community will also be restricted to essential workers, store deliveries, mail couriers and band staff who live off the reserve.
This curfew comes as the provincial government has moved to strengthen its borders. Anyone returning to Nova Scotia from out of province is now required to self-isolate as part of measures announced by Premier Stephen McNeil.
Motorists heading back to the province on Monday were diverted off the highway in Amherst by police and directed to officers who explained how the measures impacted them.
Fines of $1,000 can be handed out to individuals who aren’t following physical distancing and self-isolation measures under the Health Protection Act.