HALIFAX — The withdrawal of three of the four Atlantic provinces this week from the Atlantic bubble does not mean the concept wasn't effective, says Nova Scotia's premier.

Stephen McNeil told reporters Friday that he believes the regional bubble was a "huge success" in helping to reduce COVID-19 cases and in helping to maintain the mental well-being of the public.

McNeil said it became clear during the first wave of the pandemic when economies and borders were completely shut down, that people were stressed over the fact they couldn't see family members in neighbouring provinces.

"When we provided that Atlantic bubble, you felt the level of anxiety disappear from the citizens," McNeil said.

He said his province doesn't feel the need to officially remove itself from the bubble after P.E.I., Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick did so, because of strong advisories it has issued on non-essential travel and its management of essential travel. 

As things stand, Atlantic residents can still enter Nova Scotia without having to self-isolate for 14 days.

"We are really asking people to just slow down our movement," he said. "If you have to come you are welcome to come, but other than that, stay home."

Nova Scotia reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, all in the central health zone, which includes Halifax.

That brought the provincial total of active cases to 119. The vast majority of cases are in the Halifax area, which instituted sweeping restrictions such as closing in-person dining at restaurants on Thursday to curb what's been a steady recent growth of the virus. The restrictions are in place for two weeks.

One of the new cases is at Bedford South School, a pre-primary to grade 4 school in the Halifax area. McNeil said the case involved a student and the school was closed Friday for cleaning.

Dr. Robert Strang, chief medical officer of health, said he expects to see cases rise for the next week to 10 days, although he said he was relieved to see that the number of cases had "somewhat stabilized" since the beginning of the week.

However, he noted that public health officials were dealing with 1,058 open investigations, adding that each positive case has an average of seven close contacts or more.

"Putting this in perspective, a week ago we had 276 open investigations . . . and there were five to six close contacts per case on average," Strang said.

He also said that voluntary testing is now being introduced to monitor, reduce and prevent the spread of COVID-19 in long-term care homes. The testing is being carried out every two weeks on volunteers, designated caregivers and employees who provide direct care to residents.

Testing has started, Strang said, at three facilities in Halifax: Ocean View Continuing Care Centre, St Vincent's Nursing Home and Northwood, where 53 of the province's 65 deaths were recorded during the first wave of the virus.

Meanwhile, on the first day since New Brunswick formally pulled out of the Atlantic bubble, the province reported 12 new cases of COVID-19. It now has 114 active cases. 

Seven of the new cases were in the Saint John area, three in the Moncton region and two in the Fredericton area. 

All three affected health regions are under the heightened "orange'' pandemic-alert level, and Dr. Jennifer Russell, chief medical officer of health, said there shouldn't be any non-essential travel in and out of these zones.

Under new measures that took effect Friday, all visitors to New Brunswick — including from the Atlantic region — will need to isolate for 14 days upon arrival. Visitors are also required to register before entering the province.

In Newfoundland and Labrador health officials reported more than 30 active cases of COVID-19 for the first time since April. The province reported four new infections for a total of 31 active cases across the province.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 27, 2020.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press