Only 23% of New Brunswickers comfortable welcoming Atlantic visitors, survey suggests

Lessthan a quarter of New Brunswickers are comfortable welcoming Atlantic Canadians as visitors to the province as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, a survey conducted for the Department of Tourism in mid-May suggests.

A total of 400 adults were asked to rank their comfort level with welcoming visitors on a10-point scale, where 10 is "extremely comfortable" and one is "not at all comfortable."

Twenty-three per cent chose one of the top three scores (8-10) when asked about welcoming visitors from the other Atlantic provinces, the survey results from the Atlantic Quarterly show.

Thirty-one per cent chose one of thethree lowest comfort scores (1-3), including 19 per cent who said they were not at all comfortable allowing travellers fromNova Scotia, P.E.I. or Newfoundland and Labrador to enter the province.

Another 45 per cent fell somewhere in the middle, while the remaining one per cent either said they didn't know, or they didn't answer.

The mean was 5.1.

This is thesecond week of the Atlantic bubble, allowing people from the Atlantic provinces to travel within the regionfor non-essential reasons without having to self-isolate for 14 days after crossing a provincial boundary.

New Brunswick has had checkpoints at its Nova Scotia, P.E.I. and Quebec borders since March 25. The Atlantic bubble was portrayed as a big step in recovery after much of the economy was shut down because of thecoronavirus.

Premier Blaine Higgs said Tuesday he was aware of the tourism survey results and "that there was reluctance" at the time he and the other Atlantic premiers were making decisions about the bubble.

"There will always be reluctance to change, but we have to kind of move forward," he said.

1 new case

A new confirmed case of COVID-19 was announced in New Brunswick on Tuesday,ending the province's four-day streak without any new cases of the respiratory disease. It bringsthe province's total number of active cases to two.

The new case involves someonein their 20s in the Moncton region, N.B. public healthofficials said. The other infected individual isin their 40sin the Fredericton region.

Both cases are travel-related, but not related to the Atlantic bubble

The travel locations have not been disclosed, but Higgs said Tuesday he believes the new case is related to commercial trucking in the United States and the previous case involves international travel.

Pre-Campbellton outbreak

According to thesurvey, more New Brunswickersfeltcomfortable welcoming visitors from other parts of the province than their Atlantic neighbours, as ofmid-May, which was when the COVID-19 curve had been flattened in New Brunswick and just before the outbreak in the Campbelltonregion began.

Nearly half of respondents 48 per cent choseone of the three highest comfort scores when asked their sentiment about having people visit from within New Brunswick.

When asked about welcoming visitorsfrom other parts of Canada and the United States, where COVID-19 case counts remain high,the comfort levels dropped to 12 per centand eight per cent respectively.

Higgssaid Tuesday he'd like to extend the Atlanticbubble to include the Gaspsie region of Quebec before the end of the week.

But he has apprehensions about opening up to the rest of Canada right now and thinks that should be pushed backfor at least anotherweek, possibly until Aug. 1.

"It's not a decision that I'm making in isolation," Higgs said."I'd like to have that opportunity to discuss with my colleagues and then decide collectively what's in our best interest."

Higgsand the other Atlantic premiers had initially floated July 17 as a possible date toallow other non-essential Canadian travellers from outside the bubbleto visit without requiring a written exemption and a 14-day isolation period. Since then, however, they and other officials have walked back from that date.

All four Atlantic provinceshave reported new cases of COVID-19 since thebubble began July 3;all of them related to travel outside the region, according to health officials.

P.E.I.'s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said Monday a new caseon the island, while not related to the opening of the Atlantic bubble or to seasonal residents, could affect the possibility of a Canadian bubble.

The man in his 40s, who had travelled to P.E.I. on WestJetFlight 654 from Toronto on July 2 and initially tested negative for the coronavirus, is a health-care workerat the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. Contact tracing has identified 100patients and125staff at the hospital so far, plus three personal contacts.

"Although ultimately it's not my decision, I believe it would be premature today to be considering a further loosening of our border restrictions and encouraging broader travel," Morrison told reporters.

Travel intentions

The tourism survey, which also measured the travel intentions of New Brunswickers, found 22 per cent havecancelled all their summer travel plans. Thirty-eight per cent said they wouldbe adjusting their plans and staying closer to home.

When asked about thelikelihood of travelling this summer or fall if travel bans are lifted,87 per cent said they definitely or probably would travelwithin New Brunswick.

Fifty-one per cent said they definitely or probably would travelwithin Prince Edward Island or Nova Scotia, while 38 per cent said within Canada, but outside the Maritimes.

Only 10 per cent said they expected to traveloutside of Canada, according to the survey results.

Again, theDepartment of Tourism did not respond to a request Monday to release the raw data.

Travel concerns

The biggesttravel concern, according to the survey, wasvisitors from other locations coming to New Brunswick, with 80 per cent of respondents answering yes.

Other travel concerns included:

• Whether businesses will have safety/physical distancing protocols in place: 57 per cent.
• That there will be restrictive cancellation policies in place:52 per cent.
• It will be difficult to know whether businesses are open:51 per cent.

The majority of respondents, 81 per cent, said they wouldlikely avoid crowds when travelling.

Nearly three-quarters (74 per cent) said they would likely choose outdoor activities, such as kayaking, hiking or sightseeing.

And just over half (55 per cent)said they would likely choose indoor activities, such as museums, restaurants or theatres.