Originally posted by the Voice of America.
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With COVID-19 Tamped Down, Christmas Looks Up in Atlantic Canada

Jay Heisler

   HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA - A brief surge of coronavirus infections in
   Atlantic Canada -- one of the least-affected places on Earth -- has
   been tamped down just in time for residents to enjoy something
   resembling a normal Christmas. But most say they will continue to
   observe the social distancing and other measures that have helped to
   keep the pandemic at bay.

   "We are heading into the holiday season with very low active cases of
   COVID-19 in our province because Nova Scotians have worked hard to
   follow the protocols and slow the spread of the virus," said Premier
   Stephen McNeil of Nova Scotia, the most populous of the region's four
   provinces with a little under 1 million residents.

   "The people of our province will still be able to get together with
   family," McNeil told VOA. "It will just have to be in a smaller group."

   American media took note earlier this fall of the "Atlantic Bubble," a
   large region just a few hundred kilometers from New York City where
   cases of the world-spanning viral disease were so low that new cases
   could be counted on the fingers of one hand.

   Free movement was permitted within the region comprising Nova Scotia,
   New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland, while outsiders
   -- even from other parts of Canada -- could not visit without
   submitting to a two-week quarantine.

   Within weeks of that wave of publicity, the tranquility was shattered
   by an outbreak of new cases that, while still small by global
   standards, set off alarms. The free travel zone was temporarily
   disbanded, and Nova Scotia -- with fewer than 200 total cases --
   declared a limited lockdown with an end to indoor dining and gyms.

   The measures proved effective, and a week before Christmas, the total
   number of active cases in Nova Scotia is down to 50 with nobody
   hospitalized. The province reported just six new cases on Wednesday.

   In response, gyms and religious services have been allowed to reopen at
   partial capacity, although indoor dining and live music are still
   prohibited. More important for families hoping to celebrate the
   year-end holidays together, a strict limit on gatherings in Halifax,
   the region's biggest city, has been raised from five people to 10.

   Even so, many residents say they will play it safe.

   Nova Scotia-based epidemiologist Devbani Raha says she is closely
   following the case numbers as she makes her holiday plans and is
   encouraged to see that the tally is not going up. Even so, she is
   inviting only a single family friend for Christmas dinner.

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