Pharmacist blasts tourists, cottagers arriving in Cape Breton village amid pandemic

A pharmacist in the tourist village of Baddeck, N.S., is begging come-from-aways to stay away, until the restrictions around COVID-19 have been lifted.

Graham Mackenzie took to Twitter over the weekend, admonishing people who were visiting the area and potentially bringing COVID-19 with them.

In an interview with CBC's Information Morning Cape Breton Wednesday, MacKenzie told host Steve Sutherland he was exasperated by the number of visitors in the community.

"When you come into Baddeck, people know if you're from around here or not, and your licence plate doesn't lie," said MacKenzie.

He said that some may have been trying to get away from areas where there are COVID-19 cases, and others may have been opening up their cottages.

"I think people were forgetting just exactly how successful this virus is at spreading," he said.

"Trying to protect this little town, trying to protect this province, I felt it was just time to say something and remind people to stay home."

MacKenzie, the owner of Stone's Pharmasave, and one of three pharmacists working at the store, said the pharmacy has taken its own precautions to keep people safe.

He said a staff member called police one day about a group gathered outside the store.

MacKenzie said the store is also limiting the number of customers in the pharmacy to two at a time.

And he said they recently turned away a customer they know lives with someone who is self-isolating after travelling.

Can't afford to get sick

MacKenzie said one of the store's pharmacists is already in quarantine, so he and the other remaining pharmacist cannot afford to get sick.

"The virus really doesn't know what the guidelines are, so if you're in the house with somebody and there is a possibility that that person might be infected, we have to assume the same of you," he said.

"This business has to remain running. If we get sick, the store closes."

MacKenzie said he knows the local economy depends heavily on tourists and other visitors, and he thought about how his message on social media might be perceived.

Strang urges tourists to stay home

In a press conference on Tuesday, the province's chief medical officer of health echoed the pharmacist's message to tourists and cottage owners from outside Nova Scotia. 

"Certainly we don't want people coming from other parts of Canada," said Dr. Robert Strang. 

As of March 23, anyone from outside Nova Scotia is being instructed to self-isolate for 14 days upon arriving in the province. Those who fail to obey the isolation order could be fined $1,000 per day.

Some travellers are exempt from the self-isolation rules, including truckers, medical staff and people travelling over the provincial border for medical treatment.

"This is not time to be travelling across the country, to be moving from one part of the country to another," Strang said Tuesday.

"People need to stay in their home community and their home province as we try to ride this COVID-19 issue out together." 

Strang said that if people from other parts of Nova Scotia want to go to their cottage, they need to make sure they are self-sufficient at that location.

"People need to understand if they go to a more remote area [and] if they become sick, there may be more challenges around accessing care."