P.E.I. reports 11 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday

P.E.I. announced 11 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total active case count in the province up to 43.

All of thecases are linked to travel outside P.E.I.,public exposure sites or the individuals were close contacts of previous cases.

Two of the individuals are children under the age of 12. Two are in their 60, two in their 50s, one in their 40s and one in their 30s.

The other three cases involve people in their20s.

Some of the new cases remain under investigation. A release from the Chief Public Health Officesaidpublicand flight exposure notifications may follow based on contact tracing.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison saidthat it is "very important" that anyone who was at anypublic exposure sites announced in the last week monitor for symptoms.

"If any symptoms do develop, visit a Health P.E.I. testing clinic as soon as possible and isolate until you receive anegative result," she said.

New restrictions announced Tuesday

The news comes after the province implementeda suite of new restrictions Tuesday following the province's first confirmed case of the highly contagious omicron variant.

The following restrictions come into effect at 8 a.m. Friday:

• Informal gatherings will be limited to 20 people, including those in the same household.
• No travel to or from P.E.I. will be allowed for people looking to participate in organized recreational events and notournaments of any sort will be permitted in the province.
• Masks will be allowed to be removed at indoor public places only when actively eating or drinking, which means Islanders won't be able to take them off when seated at concerts or faith-based gatherings.
• Standing receptions where food or drink is served will no longer be permitted, and people must be seated when consuming food or drinks at an eating establishment. Only 20 people can be seated at the same table.
• Dancing and other activities involving close contact will be allowed in cohorts of 50 provided masks are worn at all times.
• Long-term care facility residents won't be able to go out on community visits until they are fully vaccinated and have received a booster shot.
• People who recently travelled within Canada can't visit long-term care, community care or acute care facilities until they have been tested negative twice. Staffonly need to have one negative test prior to reporting for work, but ideally they should also wait until the Day 4 test.
• International travellers including staff will be unable to enter these facilities until they present three negative tests, one at entry and the others on days 4 and 8.
• People travelling to P.E.I. are asked to limit interactions as much as possible with family, friends and the public for two hours after being tested at a point of entry, but are not required to remain at the point of entry.

Schools will remain open for rest of the week prior to the Christmas break, but Morrison said the province will be making a recommendation in early January on whether schools will reopen as planned.

Morrison also said Tuesday the province's public health and testing capacity were "under significant strain," adding that testing clinic and provincial laboratory staff have been "working tirelessly" to meet demand.

The province has 43active cases, witha total of 434cases on the Island since the pandemic began.

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.