COVID-19 on P.E.I.: What's happening Tuesday, April 20

The child who was hospitalized due to COVID-19 has been discharged, the Chief Public Health Office confirmed. It also reported one new case of COVID-19.

The 2021 edition of the Cavendish Beach Music Festival has been cancelled, after organizers decided public health requirements would still not permit a large-scale event by the time the July 9-11 weekend rolled around.

Nurses in Atlantic Canada are being asked to help as the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits Ontario hard and some on P.E.I. are starting to step forward.

Nova Scotia is placing new restrictions on who can travel to the province, with exceptions for residents of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador, where COVID-19 case counts are low.

A P.E.I. tourism operator is concerned that the federal budget is decreasing support for the industry.

P.E.I. has implemented new measures to prevent the importation of COVID-19, and is advising Islanders to avoid non-essential travel off-Island.

A new study is examining the experience of Islanders in their 20s during the pandemic.

Summerside police say five people have been charged for failing to self-isolate less than an hour after their arrival in P.E.I. on Friday night.

P.E.I. has two people in hospital with COVID-19, including one in ICU and a child under the age of 10.

Dr. Michael Gardam, COO of Health PEI, says he hopes the new measures will prevent further hospitalizations.

The Island has seen 174cases of COVID-19. Fourteenare considered active. There have been two hospitalizations and no deaths.

Elsewhere in the Atlantic region Tuesday:

• Nova Scotia reported nine new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the total active caseload to 68.
• New Brunswick had no new cases for the first time in over a month, and stands at 139 active cases. However, the province has confirmed its first case of a blood clot as a result of an AstraZeneca vaccine. The person involved has since recovered.
• Newfoundland and Labradorhas two new cases and 27 actives ones.

Also in the news

• Federal intergovernmental affairs minister Dominic LeBlanc says Ottawa will not divert any COVID-19 vaccine doses from Atlantic Canada to Ontario without a clear consensus from provincial premiers.
• Filmmakers on P.E.I. and across Atlantic Canada have been kept busy and employed over the past year with projects commissioned by the Bell-owned television channel Fibe TV1.
• Premier Dennis Kingsaid now is not the time forP.E.I.to discuss relinquishing any of its vaccine doses, as the Canadian Medical Association has urged lesser-impacted regions of Canada to do.
• Lt.-Cmdr.Mitchell Drake took on a new job in March of 2020, and since then the Island-born physician's main taskhas been keeping Royal Canadian Navy members safe from COVID-19 while ensuring they remainmobile.

TheseIslanders are currently eligible for a vaccine

• People over 55.
• People aged 50-54, with birthdays from January through August.
• Islanders over the age of 16 with underlying medical conditions, and all eligible members of their household.
• Frontline workers over the age of 40 who interact with the public and cannot work virtually.
• People providing health care services to the public includingoptometrists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and their support staff.
• Non-frontline health care workers needed to maintain health care system capacity
• Firefighters, police officers, power-line workers.
• Residents and staff of long-term care homes.
• Adults living in Indigenous communities.
• Residents and staff of shared living facilities.
• Truck drivers and other rotational workers.

You can find more information about how to get a vaccine here.

Further resources

• Here isa chart of COVID-19 cases on P.E.I. since March 2020, and a timelineof pandemic events.
• Here is a look at how coronavirus isspreading across Canada.

Reminder about symptoms

The symptoms of COVID-19 can include:

• Fever.
• Cough or worsening of a previous cough.
• Possible loss of taste and/or smell.
• Sore throat.
• New or worsening fatigue.
• Headache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Runny nose.

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