P.E.I. limits COVID-19 testing at clinics as province reports 40 new cases

P.E.I. announced 40 new COVID-19 cases Friday, hitting yet another daily case record.

All cases are still under investigation and contact tracing is underway. Anyone identified as a close contact will be contacted by the province.

There are now 198 active cases of COVID-19 on the Island. Some new cases aren't counted on the total tally, since they involve non-residents.

The province said it's also limiting COVID-19 testing at Health P.E.I. testing clinics exclusively to symptomatic individuals, close contacts identified by Public Health, and those who have preliminarily tested positive with the rapid antigen test or at a point of entry.

Individuals who do not have symptoms or need a travel-related test such as the Day 4 one will be provided with a home rapid antigen tests instead. The province said people should take two of these tests 48 hours apart.

Test results at the province's online portal are delayed due to high testing volumes. The province said it may take several days for negative test results to appear.

People with positive results, however, will be notified directly within four hours of their test.

There have been 621 cases in P.E.I. since the pandemic began.