Even though some people are doing their best to move on from COVID-19, it would seem the virus isn't ready to do so.
Without official numbers anymore, it’s harder to track COVID-19, but there's plenty of evidence lots of folks are still being infected, while others are doing what they can to avoid it.
Nearly 10 days after Nova Scotia dropped the last of its COVID-19 restrictions, the owner of the Hydrostone Groceteria still wears a mask all day — and says about half of his customers do as well.
"I choose to wear the mask for my safety, my staff's safety, my business's safety, my customer’s safety," says Lee Elrabahi.
"They feel more comfortable when I have the mask on."
Many retail, grocery and restaurant workers are doing the same, amid growing evidence the COVID-19 caseload is significant.
According to figures provided to CTV News by Nova Scotia Health, there were 240 people in hospital with the virus on Wednesday, with 11 in the intensive care unit.
Of those:
- 50 inpatients are in hospital due to COVID-19
- 122 inpatients were identified as positive upon arrival at hospital but were admitted for another medical reason, or were admitted for COVID-19 but no longer require specialized care
- 68 inpatients contracted COVID-19 after being admitted to hospital
In the meantime, Nova Scotia Health reported 742 employees off work Wednesday due to being diagnosed as positive for COVID-19, awaiting results of a COVID-19 test, or were exposed to a member of their household who tested positive for COVID-19.
They are located in:
- Western Zone: 131
- Central Zone: 290
- Northern Zone: 116
- Eastern Zone: 205
The news came as the health authority announced it was ramping up mobile testing in some areas.
The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union says many of his members are quickly burning out, covering for colleagues who are also off the job because of COVID-19.
"There's nothing left in the tank," said Paul Wozney.
"We've got people that, from the time they get to school until the time they leave, the only time of the day where they're not being doubt and triple and quadruple purposed throughout the day is maybe 20 minutes at lunchtime where they can take a bathroom break and have a bite to eat. That's it."
Business leaders say finding replacement workers has been a challenge for a couple of years now, but businesses are trying to adapt to the new reality.
"We've become quite adept at it for the last two years, but we're far from out of the woods," said Louis-Philippe Gauthier the Atlantic senior director of legislative affairs at the for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
He also noted a recent CFIB study found a majority of small businesses in every province supported lifting most pandemic restrictions, but views on masks were different in Atlantic Canada.
The sentiment is shared by Lee Elrabahi.
"We're going to maintain the masks for a couple of months. See how things turn out. And then we'll determine, either keep it on or take it off," he said.
