They may have two doses of COVID-19 vaccine in their arms but that doesn’t stop Halifax friends, Sheila Fulton and Debbie Lacey, from continuing to get regularly tested for the virus.
“It’s well worth it for everybody to come in and get it done. Just for peace of mind,” Fulton said.
The Mayflower Curling Club is one of several primary assessment centres throughout the province that remains open and readily accessible to the public.
Site manager Lynn Molloy says people are quick to ramp up testing when case numbers start to rise, but regular testing is what she and other public health front-liners are urging people to do.
“It’s finding the disease that we might not have found. It’s stopping further exposures to other individuals that may not be vaccinated,” Molloy said.
With faster-moving variants like Delta and Gamma identified in Nova Scotia, Molloy says low testing numbers are concerning. Particularly, as the province continues towards reopening to the rest of Canada.
“We are continuing to educate them and stress the importance that testing is an as important part of the strategy as the vaccine. That we need to keep testing to ensure our communities are going to be safe,” Molloy said.
As of June 30, anyone from outside the Atlantic province can enter Nova Scotia. Travelers with only one vaccine dose will have to follow modified isolation and testing requirements.
All part of why Lacey says she continues to keep public health measures at the forefront of her daily routine.
“I got my little book. I keep tabs on everywhere I go. What time I leave and everything,” she said.
Lacey says she considers her attention to detail when it comes to tracking her movements throughout her community in case she was at an exposure site, is just as important as her efforts to get regular testing with her friend.
“You might get a little tender in the nose. You just switch, switch, sides of the nose you want to do but the thing is it gets done. And, you feel better afterward knowing you got it done. Especially, when you get back your negative result,” Lacey said.