Media Scan Wednesday February 3, 2021

Nova Scotia government poised to add 20 sites to its list of parks and protected area The Nova Scotia government says it plans to establish up to 20 new parks and protected areas, a pledge it says will achieve the government's goal of protecting 13 per cent of the province's land. Environment Minister Gordon Wilson made the announcement today, adding that Canada's second-smallest province has become a leader in conserving unique habitats, coastline and biodiversity. Government's new pandemic business loan program gets mixed reviews The federal government's new loan program to help businesses survive COVID-19 is getting mixed reviews, even from companies desperate for help. The highly affected sectors credit availability program, or HASCAP, launched on Monday, offers loans between $25,000 and $1 million to businesses that qualify. Business owners, advocacy groups and experts all welcome the aid, but many stakeholders worry about whether taking on more debt is a viable solution. Nova Scotia reports one new COVID-19 case; 10 active cases remain Health officials in Nova Scotia identified one new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday. One previously reported case is now considered recovered, and 10 active cases remain in the province. The Nova Scotia government says the case is in Central Zone, and related to travel outside of Atlantic Canada. The person is self-isolating. "The low number of cases we have been seeing is a reflection of the hard work put in by Nova Scotians, and we can't stop now," said Premier Stephen McNeil in Tuesday's media release. N.S. restaurants get new COVID-19 check-in solution to track patrons The Restaurant Association of Nova Scotia has partnered to provide all of its dine-in restaurants with a check-in solution during the coronavirus pandemic. Since Nov. 23, all restaurants in the province have been required to collect contact information for all dine-in visitors to ensure Public Health can conduct contact tracing in case of an exposure of COVID-19. While some relied on paper and pens, and some on iPads and similar technology, the Restaurant Association wanted to bring a consistent solution to all businesses. The group represents over 1,550 establishments. A tale of two provinces: New Brunswick and Nova Scotia’s pandemic fortunes have diverged in 2021 After a summer marked by open borders and low COVID-19 cases across Atlantic Canada, the pandemic fortunes of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have diverged in the first part of 2021.New Brunswick reported 657 new cases in the month of January. In all of 2020, New Brunswick recorded 599 cases of the virus. Just across the border from Aulac, N.B., Nova Scotia reported just 94 cases of the coronavirus over that same period. Montreal-based epidemiologist Dr. Christopher Labos says it’s difficult to tell why the provinces have fared so differently in the first part of this year. Festival Antigonish returns this summer with Robin Hood: The Great Escape One of Nova Scotia's longest-running summer theatre companies will return in 2021 with a unique outdoor production of one of the world’s best-known adventure tales. After canceling live theatre productions in 2020 due to COVID-19, Festival Antigonish Summer Theatre presents Robin Hood: The Great Escape in partnership with Keppoch Mountain for a two-week run in August. Who will be premier? Catch up on Nova Scotia's Liberal leadership race Stephen McNeil, leader of Nova Scotia's Liberals since 2007 and premier since 2013, announced in early August 2020 that he would retire. As the Liberals hold the most seats in the provincial legislature, the next leader of the party will become premier, too. Three people are running for the role: Randy Delorey, Labi Kousoulis and Iain Rankin. Voting began Feb. 1 at 8 a.m. and runs until Feb. 6 at 3 p.m., with the winner expected to be announced later that day. Canada could get 1.1M more vaccine doses by March through COVAX sharing program Canada could get more than one million additional doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March through a global vaccine sharing initiative known as COVAX. But as with most things COVID- 19, vaccine-related deliveries are mired in the uncertainty of regulatory reviews and potential production delays. The COVAX Facility, co-ordinated by the World Health Organization and Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, pools funds from wealthier countries to buy vaccines for themselves and for 92 low- and middle-income nations that can’t afford to buy on their own. 'Regenerative tourism' takes centre stage as pandemic forces travel industry to re-evaluate As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to decimate the global travel sector, the tourism industry has been forced to re-evaluate many aspects of its operations – with many looking for ways to re- frame the entire experience of tourism post-pandemic. The concept of values-based “regenerative tourism” which seeks to go beyond the eco-tourism of years past, pushes for travellers to leave destinations better than they found them. Here's how Regina hotels are adapting to the COVID-19 market As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact all types of business, local hotels are offering deals to keep customers coming in. Booking a vacation or even a business trip has been put on the backburner for many people because of the pandemic and provincial restrictions. “Regina's hotel industry has been simply decimated and we've gone from about a 57 per cent occupancy, to now we're hovering around 20 per cent,” Tracy Fahlman, the President & CEO of the Regina Hotel Association said Monday.