STRAIT AREA - With COVID-19 rapid-testing clinics arriving in two local communities late in February, TELILE 24/7 host Adam Cooke decided to check out the proceedings for himself, and you'll hear the results on this week's TELILE 24/7 Podcast.

Under the authorization of Nova Scotia Public Health, Halifax-based Praxes Medical Services visited the St. Peter's Lions' Hall on February 19 and the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre on February 20 to conduct asymptomatic rapid-testing clinics for Strait area residents wishing to determine if they might have COVID-19. According to Praxes Medical Services project manager Richard MacDonald, 243 people came to the St. Peter's clinic, with roughly 140 arriving at the Port Hawkesbury clinic the following day.

Shortly after getting his own nose swabbed, Cooke interviewed MacDonald and learned that the intent is for these clinics to return to southern Cape Breton later this spring. They are now currently centered in the Halifax Regional Municipality, which is just coming off a mid-winter outbreak of COVID-19 cases.

This week's podcast will also feature a presentation made by Arichat Community Development Association representative Rachelle Samson at Richmond Municipal Council's most recent Committee of the Whole meeting. Samson told the meeting about the association's desire to set up a community park near the site of Ecole Beau-Port. If the plan goes ahead as desired, according to Samson, the new park facility would feature a winter skating rink, a warm-weather splash pad, and a year-round off-leash dog park. 

Speaking to reporters shortly after the February 9 Committee of the Whole meeting, Richmond County Warden Amanda Mombourquette told reporters that Samson's presentation proves that the time is right for the county's various communities to look at park development. She pointed to a similar operation currently under development in River Bourgeois, a community found within Mombourquette's District 4 constituency, and praised the Arichat association for seeking out advice from communities like Port Hawkesbury that have had success with establishing community parks in recent years.