Premier Iain Rankin and Dr. Robert Strang; courtesy Communications NS.
Nova Scotia’s premier didn’t mince words Monday.
Iain Rankin took aim squarely at rule breakers during the daily COVID-19 update.
Rankin says 37 fines for violating public health restrictions were issued to people in the Halifax area over the weekend.
“That’s outrageous. I want to thank everyone for following protocols, but there are still groups of people who aren’t. I have a serious question, what is wrong with you?” he says.
“The only answer that I can come up with is that you don’t care. We are in the third wave of a deadly pandemic, and the selfish few don’t care. Healthcare professionals are working nearly ’round the clock to keep us safe, and the selfish few don’t care.”
Rankin says this kind of irresponsible behavior cannot carry on.
He says the vast majority are following the rules and he’s grateful for that.
Nova Scotia reported 146 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, with most continuing to be in the Halifax region.
The province now has 943 active cases of the virus, the highest number it has ever recorded.
Meanwhile, the province’s chief medical officer of health says the pandemic has changed, with a deeply worrying explosion in hospitalizations.
Dr. Robert Strang says as of the COVID-19 briefing, there were 42 people in the hospital and eight in the ICU, some of them previously healthy people who rapidly deteriorated.
“This virus can be deadly, it’s not like COVID from a year ago it’s almost a new virus, it’s COVID-2021,” he says. “Following the restrictions will save lives in your community and will protect healthcare, and other essential workers, who are putting their health at risk for you.”
He says most in hospital now are between 40 and 60 years old, and they’re coming in sicker than ever.
With files from Steve MacArthur.
