Nova Scotia health officials are reporting two new coronavirus cases on Friday.
One of the cases is travel-related and the other case is in the Central Zone and under investigation.
Neither of the cases is related to the Clayton Park cluster identified on Monday, the province said.
Chief medical officer Dr. Robert Strang said in a provincial update on Friday that he is feeling “less anxious” about that cluster.
“We had no new cases in that cluster, or associated with the cluster, since Tuesday,” he said.
Strang said the situation is looking better and there’s been a good testing intake in that area.
“We’re not out of the woods yet and we will continue to monitor this cluster,” he said.
Strang said ongoing introductions of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia were expected as people travel outside of the bubble and the province is ready to respond to that.
But collective approaches are what “keeps us safe,” he said, asking people to limit their travel.
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Strang said with the increase in cases seen outside of the Atlantic bubble, the risk of a traveller being infected and bringing the virus to Nova Scotia is high.
“You need to ask yourself some questions, why you’re travelling, how important it is or why you’re bringing someone into the Atlantic bubble,” Strang said.
If travel isn’t necessary, the province asks to not travel.
On Monday, the province introduced stricter quarantine measures for travellers coming from outside of Atlantic Canada.
The province ordered that travellers now have to isolate alone upon arrival, away from people who are not quarantining. This means if a traveller is isolating with family or other household members, the entire household must quarantine for 14 days upon contact.
Strang says he knows the impact and difficulty of this, but it is a necessary step.
“We have to make sure that they are quarantining in a way that doesn’t put unnecessary risk to Nova Scotian residents here who then will go out into our communities and potentially expose (others).”
Rotational workers are exempt from strict quarantine as long as their travel is work-related. Those individuals can leave their house in their household bubble without self-isolation on a limited basis. Family members are also exempt from the household isolation measure.
Rotational workers are those who work a maximum of four weeks on and off. Those who are home for longer than four weeks at a time are not exempt from quarantine.
Strang said the province is also working on a testing strategy for rotational workers.
He said Nova Scotians need to focus on preventive measures when preparing for the second wave of COVID-19.
One thing everyone can do, he said, is focus on how many people are in one’s social circle in the next six to eight weeks, and finding ways to reduce the number.
Nineteen active cases in the province are reported on Friday.
On Thursday, Nova Scotia reported no new cases of COVID-19 for the first time since Oct. 29.
The two most recent cases reported on Wednesday are not linked to the Clayton Park cluster but are close contacts of previously reported cases.
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