St. Stephen Mayor Allan MacEachern wonders what "normal" will look like on the other side of the worldwide virus pandemic. "Hopefully we can get this COVID‑19 put to bed, and we can get back to our normal way of life again," he says, but he adds, "It's just like everything -- we have a big crisis, our life changes. The way we act and do things, going forward, you will always be marked with what we went through."
     Traffic over bridges linking St. Stephen to Calais and Campobello Island to Lubec has dwindled as the St. Croix/Passamaquoddy region adjusts to rules restricting movement across normally open borders. The Canada Border Services Agency is asking that travellers returning to Canada isolate themselves from others for 14 days upon re‑entry, and as quickly as possible. When crossing the border, tell a CBSA officer if you have a fever, a cough or difficulty breathing.
     Canadian and American governments announced restrictions on non‑essential travel from one country to the other to slow down the spread of COVID‑19. No crossing is allowed for leisure or extended visits, but trade and commerce, including Ganong Bros. chocolates, continue to move. So do fire departments with cross‑border mutual aid agreements, between St. Stephen and Calais, and also Campobello Island and Lubec, with some adaptations.
     St. Stephen volunteer firefighters no longer head straight over the bridge to a fire in Calais. "They get geared up, go to the border and they wait, and we're talking seconds, you know, minutes, like, 'Are we needed?' and they're to do the same thing," MacEachern says, referring to Calais firefighters headed to St. Stephen. They cross as a group -- if they are needed. "Even though we are allowed to go over, there is always a risk that they could get quarantined, so we don't want to have all our firefighters at one fire getting quarantined for 14 days. That's not good, so we're monitoring that as well," the mayor says. However, St. Stephen and Calais depend on each other's equipment, so fire trucks will continue to cross the bridge with sirens blaring. Christopher Smart, a lieutenant on Campobello Island's volunteer fire department, did not give as much detail, but he assures the public, "We're all set up. We can go across the border, and they can come across the border, no problems."

Businesses adjust to restrictions
     People on Campobello Island can still buy groceries without crossing to Lubec, too. The Campobello Island Village Mart will remain open at least until fall, owner Richard Young assures. He plans to move to Alberta, where his wife and children already live, but held off closing the store in light of COVID‑19. "The island needs a grocery store, and I can get freight down so, you know, we might as well feed these people in these trying times," he says. "It wouldn't be fair just to close down and pull up stakes, so we'll just help them out. They help me, I help them, right?"
     Campobello Island residents can still cross to Lubec to buy gasoline and other essentials not available on the island and can continue on to St. Stephen, too. A bulletin posted on the Campobello rural community website explains the special travel provisions, which, New Brunswick Southwest MP John Williamson explains, resulted from an agreement between Canada and the United States. "I suspect that they haven't talked about Campobello so much in the White House since President Franklin Roosevelt," he says. There are contingency plans in case the province must provide transportation to and from Campobello Island by water, Williamson says. East Coast Ferries, which runs a seasonal summer ferry between Deer Island and Campobello, confirms that it "does have a ferry that can run if necessary."
     The authorities consider Ganong Bros. "a critical component of the food chain," so the candy factory in St. Stephen continues to run, says company marketing director Janelle Shillington. "We are a food supplier and manufacturer, so we continue to be operational under the regulations of government and public health," she says. The company enforces all rules and regulations including social distancing, increased sanitation and no non‑essential visitors. The company encourages office staff to work at home and work staggered shifts to keep distances. "The most important thing is to keep everyone safe," she says. Kevin Stuart still runs his drinking water business, too. "It's deemed a necessity. As long as I'm healthy, I'm out," he says.
     Young, who hopes to sell his grocery store on Campobello Island, notes increased sales since the two countries announced tighter border rules. "We've had some good business here the last week and a half. Everyone's running scared, which is understandable," he says.
     Future St. Stephen President Kendall Kadatz, too, raised the possibility that making it harder to run "over the river" to Calais could mean more sales for St. Stephen businesses. "If they need anything they actually have to shop in Canada," he says.
     It cuts both ways, according to MacEachern. "We rely on the traffic which is created by being a border community. We have people that normally would travel to St. Stephen to go to Calais shopping. They also stop in St. Stephen, so we lose that traffic," he says. The St. Stephen mayor worries about Calais, too. "I worry about how they're making out in this border closure as well; I mean, they are a big retailer for our area," he says. "Hopefully they get through this."
     The community can sort out later whether any changes in spending habits last into the post‑COVID‑19 new normal, but Kadatz sees something else good in this crisis. "In a world where we see ourselves constantly divided, it's nice to see people looking at how they come together across neighborhoods, communities, countries, cities to say, 'How do we work together?'"
     St. Stephen Business Improvement Area Inc., the St. Stephen Area Chamber of Commerce, Generate Creative Consulting and Future St. Stephen cooperated on a new <togetherststephen.ca> website listing which businesses are open offering what services and their hours of operation. The partners will assess whether this initiative should continue post‑COVID‑19, Kadatz said.
     St. Stephen town councillors kept their social distance at the regular March meeting with chairs well apart. There was no press or public in the room, but people could watch it live‑streamed and even join the question and answer session via the municipal Facebook page. Whether this becomes part of the new normal remains to be seen.