N.S. to end mandatory isolation for people with COVID-19 starting July 6

Nova Scotia has announced it will lift all remaining community COVID-19 restrictions, including isolation requirements, on Wednesday.

Dr. Robert Strang, Nova Scotia's chief medical officer of health, made the announcement Monday.

"We're at a place now with our epidemiology and our ongoing adaptation to COVID being with us for the long term, that we feel ... it's appropriate to do what many other provinces have already done and make some adjustments to our last remaining restrictions in the areas of isolation, masking and testing," Strang said during a media briefing.

Strang said as of Wednesday, isolation will be "strongly recommended," but not mandatory, for people who test positive for COVID-19.

"We have to understand that we have to have an approach to COVID that's sustainable and feasible over the long term," he said.

"The levels of COVID activity right now are low enough and the vast majority of people are protected against severe illness by vaccination, that we feel it's appropriate to move away and emphasize in general when people are sick with cold and flu symptoms — whether it might be COVID, influenza, other viruses which are around — the safest approach is ... to stay home until you're feeling better."

WATCH | Dr. Robert Strang on lifting remaining COVID-19 restrictions

People who are sick are still asked to avoid high-risk spaces and also other people who are more vulnerable. If people who are sick must go out, they are asked to wear a well-fitted mask. Masks will remain optional for others, but continue to be recommended in crowded indoor spaces, including public transit.

Nova Scotia is the fifth province in Canada to drop isolation requirements, after Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and New Brunswick. All three territories have also dropped their requirements.

Strang said he doesn't expect to see an increase in COVID-19 cases as isolation requirements lift.

"Even though it has been mandatory, it really has been left up to people. We haven't been enforcing that, that's very difficult to actually enforce.... So all along, we've really been asking Nova Scotians to do the right thing," he said, adding that he expects Nova Scotians to continue isolating as needed.

Dr. Leisha Hawker, a Halifax physician and president of Doctors Nova Scotia, agrees that it's the right time to lift the province's isolation requirements.

"We've been monitoring it for over two years now, and it's been difficult for a lot of patients to isolate," she said.

"In my own personal experience, I've had a lot of patients who haven't even tested or really properly followed isolation and so I think we're at the point now where the majority of Nova Scotians are vaccinated, that I think it's reasonable to do this."