Chief medical officer says two-week mark of Atlantic bubble shows 'best case scenario'

Despite long lineups that caused officers to wave thousands of people through without screening, and three new cases of COVID-19 being detected, chief medical officer of health Dr. Jennifer Russell says the past two weeks have gone "extremely well."

Friday marks two weeks since the Atlantic bubble was opened up. Upwards of 100,000 personal vehicles have come into the province since July 3, and people from Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador did not have to self isolate once they got to New Brunswick.

Russell said the three new cases detected since July 3 were unrelated to this travel. They were all involving people who travelled from outside the bubble, and were self-isolating when they noticed their symptoms. She said they got tested, diagnosed and continue to self isolate along with their close contacts.

"This is how we expect things to work. This is how we hope things will work. And in terms of a best case scenario, this is what we like to see."

On July 3, the premiers of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador announced they will opening their borders to Atlantic Canadians. This meant people can travel (somewhat) freely between these four provinces, and don't have to self isolate when they get to their destinations.

Border checkpoints either remained or were implemented at interprovincial crossings. In the first days, massive lineups causedsafety concerns and border agents wavedthousands of vehicles through without screening just to reduce the lines.

Russell said regarding those early days, "nothing will ever be perfect."

"These are growing pains as we're streamlining our systems," she said.

Since then, traffic has been flowing steadily from the surrounding provinces into New Brunswick, but some people were still being turned away. The rate of refusal at the border has been steady between 0.5 to 1.5 percent per day since the opening of the Atlantic bubble.

Coreen Enos, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety, said the province does not track the reasons for refusal at the border.

"Some travellers are denied entry because their purpose of travel is not permitted by the emergency order. Others are denied entry because they do not have identification or supporting documents to support their travel when they present at a point of entry," she said in an email.

Pre-crossing registration delays

Anyone travelling to New Brunswick should register online or by phone.

Enos saidthe province is recommendingthat people register at least five business days before their intended date of travel, but said effectivethe evening ofJuly 16, "anyone registering from within the Atlantic Bubble is having their registration automatically approved and should receive their approval immediately."

How peace officers control New Brunswick's borders

4 years ago

Duration 1:57

All kinds of officers staff New Brunswick border points during the pandemic: forest rangers, commercial vehicle enforcement officers, corrections officers and other peace officers.

Enos said some travellers have arrived at the border with a copy of the confirmation,but without the approved registration or their registration number that appears in their email once they register online.

"When that happens, staff are able to help travellers register on the spot, so long as they have the required identification and supporting documents," she said. "But that adds to delays."

On testing

Testing numbers have been steadily increasing. On July 3, the province had done 292 tests. On Friday, the number was 354.

Russell said the number of tests done in the past two weeks is reaching the province's goal.

She said the targets could change as we move into flu season in the fall, and more people experience COVID-19-like symptoms.

She said the positivity rate has been below oneper cent, and the recommended positivity rate from the World Health Organization is five to10 per cent.

"We're in a very good place right now with respect to capacity, with respect to reaching those targets," she said. "We're in a planning phase right now for the fall, knowing that with schools coming back in and post-secondary education coming back into the picture that those things have to be taken into account with our testing strategy as well."

As the summer goes on, the testing goal will increase, she said. She said the province has been testing asymptomatic pre-operative patients and is ready to deploy rapid testing of close contacts if an outbreak occurs.

Some people still self-isolating

Russell saidpeople coming from outside the country for essential reasons, as well as people entering New Brunswick from outside the bubble will still have to self isolate. People travelling internationally are being tracked by the Canadian Border Agency, she said, who are communicating with provincial officials.

And provincial officials are still calling people who are supposed to be self isolating after travelling from outside Atlantic Canada, to make sure they are following the rules.

"That self isolation piece is huge and is very necessary to allow us to continue to stay in yellow,"she said.