Halifax doctor warns provinces should anticipate surprises if cutting COVID mandates

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Lisa Barrett says stripping COVID-19 measures too soon will be a challenging ‘experiment’ for some provinces

CITYnews halifax \ Chris Stoodley

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One of Nova Scotia’s top COVID-19 specialists warns that other provinces should anticipate surprises if measures to curb the pandemic are cut too soon.

Last week, provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan announced COVID-19 measures — such as vaccine passports — would end almost immediately.

Provinces that do remove all COVID-19 restrictions are like “a pendulum that swings all the way open and then has to go all the back,” according to infectious disease specialist Dr. Lisa Barrett.

She told CityNews Halifax that stripping these measures will be an “experiment” for these provinces and it could be challenging to handle.

“We know how this virus moves, we know it’s still trying to figure out its relationship with humans,” Dr. Barrett, who’s an assistant professor at Dalhousie University, said. “It’s changing a lot, still. It’s dating, if you will, on Valentine’s weekend.

“It’s not totally settled in and it hasn’t moved in. So, we know it’s going to change a lot.”

Compared to other provinces, she said she believes Nova Scotia’s gradual approach to lifting COVID-19 measures in stages will serve people better.

“I think that’s kind of the way we’ve done things in Nova Scotia, and it seems to make sense,” Dr. Barrett said. “As long as we have a way of knowing when we might need to be moving ahead a little faster of pausing for a moment. As long as we have a way of measuring that that doesn’t disproportionately affect people who are most likely to get sick, I’m good with that.”

Premier Tim Houston and chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang announced at a Feb. 9 briefing Nova Scotia will go through a three-phase reopening approach.

The first phase starts on Feb. 14 at 12:01 a.m., which includes the informal gathering limit rising to 25 people, the lifting of all border restrictions for domestic travellers and an increase in capacity for businesses.

But as Nova Scotia moves out of the Omicron wave and towards an end to the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Barrett has some reservations.

She said she currently finds the term “endemic” to be “too annoying” since it’s being used incorrectly.

She adds that when people hear the term “living with COVID,” she worries many people think the virus will be mild.

“There’s people out there that are still at risk for getting really sick and they feel like they should ignore their symptoms, they should tough it out, they shouldn’t get tested because tests are at a premium and they don’t want to disturb the system,” Dr. Barrett said. “The results of that sort of thinking and that interpretation of living with COVID is that we’re not getting to assess people for early treatment, and they end up in hospitals.”

As Nova Scotia eventually enters the “living with COVID” stage, she said she hopes people who are still at risk for getting serious illness change that mindset by continuing to get tested and seek medical care when needed.

“Or else we’re going to have a big problem as we start to open up more,” she said. “Just in terms of that, not everyone is at equal risk. Being mindful of the people around us that are at higher risk as we live with COVID is n important part of living successfully with COVID.”