Children 11 and under restricted from out-of-province travel for sports, arts and culture events

Kids in that age group are also not allowed to enter Nova Scotia for these activities

CITYnews \ Meghan Groff

Listen to this article

The province has restricted out-of-province travel for children aged 11 and younger participating in sports, arts and culture events.

Kids in that age group are also not allowed to enter Nova Scotia for these activities.

The new protocol is effective immediately.

Organizations in Nova Scotia are not allowed to host any games, competitions, tournaments or arts and culture performances that include participants aged 11 or under that live outside of the province.

“We are seeing cases spreading among children through these types of events,” said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Robert Strang in a news release.

“Given that vaccination for this age group is only just starting to roll out, we need to take this step to help keep our children and others safe.”

Kids can still travel inter-provincially for practices, lessons and rehearsals, because the province says those are lower risk activities that involve “interacting with the same group all the time.”

They can also travel to be spectators at these types of events.

The restriction is expected to be in place until at least early January.

Strang said the first Nova Scotians under the age of 12 started being vaccinated today and he is encouraging parents to book appointments for their kids as soon as possible.

“It is our best defence against this virus and our best path forward to living with fewer restrictions,” he added.