It's time for small steps in easing restrictions, not a 'leap forward,' infectious disease expert says

Nova Scotia is set to begin easing the restrictions adopted to slow down the Omicron wave while trying to strike a balance between protecting the health-care system and supporting the economy and people's physical and mental well-being. 

Beginning Monday, informal gathering limits will return to 25 people, up from 10, and concerts, sporting events, wedding and funeral receptions are again allowed, within certain limits. 

It's the first of three phases of reopening — "baby steps," as infectious disease specialist Dr. Lisa Barrett told CBC Radio's Information Morning.

She spoke with guest host Pauline Dakin about what she'll be watching for as restrictions ease. Her interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Listen to the full interview here: 

What do you think of Public Health's approach in Nova Scotia to start lifting restrictions? 

Some jurisdictions are going more quickly and betting that they'll be able to figure it out if there is a different variant or a need for their health system to see less cases.

But it makes good sense to me to go forward slowly in the next number of months. We're still in what we call "respiratory virus season," and that means that our health systems are always stressed at this time of the year, and we again have to still figure out what the virus is entirely doing. With the safety of vaccines around, that's good, but the slow approach makes a heck of a lot of sense to me right now.

As of [Thursday], there were more than 3,300 known active cases and likely many more that have not been picked up by testing. So how risky do you think that is for most people? 

Risk is different — depending on whether you're talking about a person or a group of people or a health system. And those are all factors we need to think about. For individual people who are very healthy and very vaccinated, risk with Omicron is probably lower for that individual person, but for certain populations of people who are at high risk, people with medical problems, immune system problems, you know, getting this virus is still an issue — so important reminders for that population as we go forward are: be mindful of who you're around, make sure you're vaccinated, and if you are having symptoms, please get tested early, especially if your symptoms are mild because you may have access to early treatment.

Our hospitals, meanwhile, are still in stretched mode so the risk of [rolling back restrictions] is probably a little higher for health systems. But if we can still measure things, keep an eye on cases, keep an eye on our hospitalizations, then we should be able to react appropriately.

Chief Public Health Officer of Canada Dr. Theresa Tam is saying we need a more sustainable approach to fighting COVID-19 going forward. What does that mean to you? 

It probably means something a little different to an infectious disease doctor than to a person who was hoping to hear it means go back to normal. 

To me, what that means is finding a way of still understanding and measuring what's happening with the pandemic early. So opening up with baby steps forward so that we don't have to take giant steps back. And if there is a need to take some baby steps back, then we see them early. We're not done with the pandemic yet, I'm sorry. So we're just going to have to live as well as we can and as mindfully as we can as we go forward.

And sometimes it's that last sprint of the race that's the hardest, right? 

Yeah, because baby steps make you go slow and we're all frustrated and we want to leap forward, right? We can see that finish line and everyone wants to sprint. So maybe if we can just take it low and slow, so we all get to the finish line instead of just the most fit — that would be lovely. 

So when Monday morning rolls around and we all start planning our next concert or going to the kids' hockey games and so on, what are the things that you will watch for?

Looking at that positivity percentage and high-risk people is important to me, and watching the hospitalizations. It's still an important metric for us, not just for COVID, but because we need to look after other people.

You know, some people have mentioned the word fear — that we live in fear in Nova Scotia. I don't think we live in fear, but it is time to do some things sensibly, and we just need to recognize who those people are who are at risk on Monday. People who have some medical issues can get out there, but get out there safely and make sure you're hanging out with people who have vaccines and, if you have symptoms, get tested early.

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