COVID-19 surge in Port Hawkesbury

Nearby Richmond County calls for more rapid testing sites

PORT HAWKESBURY — A recent spate of potential COVID-19 exposure sites in the Strait area town reached a little too close to home for Brenda Chisholm-beaton.

Port Hawkesbury's mayor has a child who attended the Strait Area Recreation and Education Centre, one of the six Cape Breton schools identified by public health as having COVID-19 cases.

“My house has become a bit of a schoolhouse and mayor's office,” said Chisholm-beaton, a mother of three. “We were tested last Thursday, and we were fortunate that most of the tests came back negative. Our daughter is still waiting to hear back her results.”

Adding to the shutdown of the local regional high school, Nova Scotia Health pegged a half-dozen businesses with possible COVID-19 exposures: Body ‘n' Soul Gym in the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre, Carriage House pub, Dairy Queen, Giant Tiger, Miller's Restaurant at the Maritime Inn, and the Tim Hortons at Reeves and Pitt streets, all occurring between April 21 and 27.

Chisholm-beaton admitted she was at a loss to explain the sudden rise in exposure sites, but denied it had any connection with an oil tanker anchored off the Port Hawkesbury coast earlier this month, with at least eight crew members confirmed as testing positive with COVID19 and quarantining on the ship.

“With all this uncertainty, it has created a lot of fear within the community,” she said. “It's definitely concerning. But at the same time, we have a lot of confidence that our citizens are taking this in stride and following all the rules. We have seen a lot of kindness demonstrated by our residents within our community and surrounding communities.”

The area currently has one primary assessment centre at the Strait Richmond Hospital in Evanston for people to get tested. For the next couple of days, a public health mobile unit will also be set up outside the civic centre for bookings by appointment only.

EXPAND TESTING

Limited testing sites puts Richmond County residents at a disadvantage, said Warden Amanda Mombourquette, who fired off a letter to provincial Health and Wellness Minister Zach Churchill last week calling for expanded COVID-19 testing in the county.

“Our residents aren't able to get appointments fast enough,” Mombourquette said. “As soon as a spot opens up at Strait Richmond, it's quickly booked and gone. And those who have been self-isolating, because they might have been near one of these exposure sites, are too nervous to go to a larger centre in a different community and stand in a long lineup to get a test.”

While he didn't specifically single out Richmond County, Churchill said during a news conference Thursday that efforts continue to set up even more sites across rural communities.

“There are nine sites in Cape Breton right now,” he said. “Testing sites are being ramped up rapidly across the province — and particularly in Cape Breton, where we've had a higher number of cases.”

Mombourquette has yet to hear personally from Churchill about establishing sites in Richmond County — particularly for seniors dealing with mobility issues and difficulty travelling long distances.

“Strait Area Transit has a program on the go, and they have been great in getting people to testing sites,” she said. “But when you're talking about seniors dealing with a variety of other challenges and barriers, driving to Sydney, Antigonish or Baddeck just to get a test … that's a long way to go.”