COVID Roundup: pharmacies adapt, connecting with kids, fighting the lies
Ali Eisner
Yesterday, March 31, Nova Scotia tallied 20 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, for a total of 147. “Most cases are connected to travel or a known case,” says a health department press release. “To date, four staff and two residents of long-term care facilities have tested positive for COVID-19. Appropriate infection prevention and control measures are in place for both residents and staff.”
And the band played on
For the last week, your Facebook timeline has probably been filled with videos of Nova Scotians performing music of all sorts, from East Coast standards to contemporary favourites. The Ultimate Online Nova Scotia Kitchen Party is the brainchild of Heather Cameron Thomas. “The intention was … to flood our Facebook timelines with joy rather than all the fear and negativity that’s out there right now,” she tells Pictou Advocate reporter Heather Brimicombe. “They get to put themselves out there in a safe space where people are loving and supporting them.”
Step right up
While the pandemic has forced the closure of many businesses, essential ones have stayed open. In many small towns around the province, there’s only a single drugstore, with only one or two pharmacists available to keep the area’s supply of medication flowing, making it critical they stay well. “I got to thinking how we could have minimum exposure for our staff but still offer our full services,” says Chris MacLean, owner of pharmacies in Tatamagouche and River John. Raissa Tetanish of the Tatamagouche Light reports on his solution.
Puppet power
Earlier this spring, renowned puppeteer and children’s entertainer Ali J. Eisner came to Nova Scotia to teach a few workshops. When the pandemic hit, they decided to hunker down and stay here. Now they’re using their time to offer free webcasts for housebound kids, offering stories and puppet shows, and teaching about identity and inclusion. They tell Halifax Magazine about it in this recent story.
Just the facts
For years, the saints at Snopes.com have been working to combat the Internet’s lies, slanders, and falsehoods of all sorts. “As the disease eventually dubbed COVID-19 spread from that region to the rest of the world, something else came with it—an ‘infodemic’ of rumours and misinformation,” say the site’s administrators. To respond, they’ve put together an ever-growing roundup of pandemic lies and conspiracy theories, with factual rebuttals.
Need to know
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This story was originally published in Halifax Magazine.
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