On Friday’s Tantramar Report:
COVID-19 update
The province announced 99 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday. That’s a new record in daily new case counts, and brings the total active case count in the province to 690. Of those cases, 209 are in Zone 1. The province also announced two more deaths related to COVID-19, a person in their 40s in Fredericton and someone in their 60s in Edmundston. 40 people are in hospital, with 16 of those in an ICU.
CHMA has reached out to get an update on the situation at the Drew Nursing Home, and we hope to have that later today. The nursing home is due to undergo another round of testing today.
Power outage planned for Friday evening
It’s going to be a dark evening for hundreds of households in Memramcook, Sackville, Dorchester, Rockport, and other areas. NB Power has a planned power outage tonight starting at 4pm, with an estimated end 10pm. To find out if your household is affected, go to nbpower.com/outages
NB Power spokesperson Dominique Couture says the planned outage is “required to complete regular maintenance activities at NB Power facilities.” It has to happen this evening because “maintenance activities need to be completed before the weather gets too cold,” says Couture. “When scheduling planned outages,” she says, “we take into consideration many factors such as businesses and organisations that operate in that community, and weather, in order to minimize impact on all customers.”
Clean-up week next week
Next week is fall cleanup week in the Sackville area. Large items can be placed curbside for pick up by Miller Waste, or by neighbours on the hunt for a good score. The town advises that people put out large items the day before their normal pickup. Large items can include furniture, appliances, tree limbs no longer than 4 feet neatly tied in bundles, and up to 50 kg of construction debris in a separate pile. Bagged leaves will also be picked up, in green or orange transparent, certified compostable, or kraft paper bags.
Council agenda for Monday
Sackville town council will meet on Monday for their monthly discussion meeting. This time, members of the public are asked to register in advance to attend in person. Or, residents can attend online via Microsoft Teams. Links are available at chmafm.com or the town of Sackville website.
First up on Monday’s agenda is a closed meeting with the local RCMP detachment to hear a monthly report, at 6:30pm. Town management recently opted to move RMCP monthly reports in camera, saying that more information can be freely shared in a closed meeting.
Then at 7pm, the public agenda begins with a presentation on strategic planning and budget assumptions.
After that, council will discuss two policy and by-law items: a bylaw to establish a “Special Business Improvement Area” levy for the town of Sackville, and the new Recreation Subsidy Policy, which proposes to subsidize recreation program fees for all Sackville-resident youth.
Last up on the agenda is the Pride Parade, which was postponed to make way for Truth and Reconciliation Week activities at Mount Allison University.
Two new inductees to Sackville’s Arts Wall
A ceremony to induct two new members to the Sackville Arts Wall scheduled for this weekend has been postponed, so instead CHMA spoke with Arts Wall committee member Linda Dornan to get the low down on who will soon be added to the Main Street fixture. In an interview for Tantramar Report, Dornan gives some background on the two 2021 inductees, Janet Hammock and Del Wheaton. CHMA hopes to bring you conversations with Hammock and Wheaton in the coming weeks.
Nova Scotia is sending rapid test kits home with families
On Wednesday, Nova Scotia announced it would ramp up its rapid antigen testing program by sending test kits home with families of children in public school, from pre-primary to Grade 6. Nova Scotia had already made rapid tests widely available, through drop-in clinics for asymptomatic people, or through take-home tests made available at those clinics.
A news release from the province says over a thousand volunteers are putting together 80,000 rapid test kits for the pilot program, called Test to Protect Kids. Each kits contains four take-home rapid COVID-19 tests with a set of instructions on how to complete the test.
Nova Scotia’s chief medial officer Dr. Robert Strang says that although schools have not been a significant source of spread so far in the pandemic, the improved access to testing could help detect cases early and possible prevent other exposures.
On Thursday, New Brunswick announced ten new school exposures in the province. So far this wave, there have been 99 cases announced at 59 different schools. 26 early learning and child-care facilities have also had confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Chief Medical Officer of Health Jennifer Russell said on Wednesday that the province was looking into expanding the use of rapid tests, but she did not have a timeline as to when it might happen.
An epidemiologist talks rapid testing in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
On Friday’s Tantramar Report, CHMA talks with epidemiologist Kevin Wilson about testing for COVID-19, and in particular, the availability of rapid testing in the Maritimes. New Brunswick currently deploys rapid test kits to businesses in the province, for use with their employees. But similar kits are not yet available to school, daycare or nursing home communities.