CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — With no new COVID-19 cases in the last three days on Prince Edward Island, the province will begin to ease the circuit breaker measures later this week.
The update came from Dr. Heather Morrison, chief public health officer, at her regular weekly briefing in Charlottetown on Tuesday.
There are no new cases of COVID-19 in P.E.I. and the 16 active cases are at home and doing well. All 110 contacts of the active cases are being followed closely.
Premier Dennis King kicked off the briefing by saying that Wednesday marks nine months since the province declared a state of public health emergency due to COVID-19.
“There have been many high points and many low points, but every step of the way, Islanders have done their part,” he said. “With vaccines arriving in Prince Edward Island today, we are turning an important corner with this pandemic.”
The first immunization clinic is scheduled for Wednesday and if all goes well, by the end of the day P.E.I., will have more people vaccinated than there were cases in the province, he said.
While the circuit breaker, which was implemented on Dec. 7, was a hard decision to make, it has accomplished what it was meant to do, said the premier.
The circuit breaker measures were put in place to break the virus’ chain of transmission after a cluster of seven cases was identified earlier this month with no apparent connection to out-of-province travel.
Together, King and Morrison announced the province may be able to start “plugging back in slowly” later this week.
“If our COVID-19 case count remains stable over the next few days, further details will be announced publicly and on the website later this week to come into effect on Friday,” said Morrison, who added these new measures will remain in effect until Jan. 11.
At a glance
Following are the COVID-19 updates from Tuesday for the Maritimes:
Nova Scotia – Six new cases with 57 active cases
New Brunswick – One new case with 62 active cases
While it is not a return to the new normal, these measures will affect a number of activities on P.E.I, including a slight increase to the limits on family and faith gatherings to allow worship services this weekend. In-room dining, gyms and recreational sports will resume with some modifications. In addition, Morrison said her team is considering changes to long-term care visitation rules.
SAFE TRAVELS
Morrison said her team has also stepped up the enforcement of self-isolation, but she remains cautious.
“Despite our increased enforcement efforts, I am worried about what may be coming our way in the weeks ahead and in January. It could be a tougher month in terms of COVID-19,” she said.
Morrison is worried that holiday travel and holiday activities, combined with the rising number of cases in the rest of Canada, may result in the importation of the virus to the Island.
There were more than 45,000 new cases of COVID-19 in Canada in the last week which is an increase over the previous week.
NOT FOREVER
Morrison reminded Islanders that although the 2020 holiday season will look and feel different this year, it’s not forever.
King agreed, adding that his family is also being forced to make difficult choices this year.
“Christmas Eve has always been the big time at our house, and we’re not going to be able to do that this year and that’s difficult for us. It’s the first year without our mom," siad King. "We have to make these tough decisions, we only have to make it for this year."
Alison Jenkins is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter. She can be contacted by email at [email protected].
