1 hospitalization, 129 new COVID-19 cases announced on P.E.I. Wednesday

There are 129 new COVID-19 cases on P.E.I. and one new hospitalization, according to Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison.

The person hospitalized is between 60 and 79 years old, Morrison said in a news release Wednesday. No further information was provided about this case.

The 129 new cases are under investigation. Anyone identified as a close contact will be contacted about testing and self-isolation requirements.

There are now 526 active cases of COVID-19 on P.E.I. and there have been 13 recoveries since Tuesday.The latest cases pushP.E.I. to 1,022 since the pandemic began.

In the release, Morrison said "The majority of our cases, approximately 90 per cent, are experiencing symptoms so this is a key indicator of infection with the virus.

"Although we do have our first individual receiving treatment in hospital, most of our cases identified in this wave are experiencing mild to moderate symptoms and are doing well."

Morrison added that it's "extremely important" that anyone experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, even if those symptoms are mild, get tested at a Health P.E.I. drop-in clinic.

People without symptoms do not require testing

P.E.I. is limiting testingto those who are symptomatic, close contacts of COVID-19 casesand people who get a preliminary positive test either at a point of entry or with a rapid antigen test.

Those without symptoms are not required to get tested.

The list of drop-in clinics where you can get tested is available on the P.E.I. government website.

If Islanders do experience symptoms, the province says to get tested immediately, even if a previous test came out negative, and self-isolate until results come back.

On Monday, the province announced 156 new cases over the weekend andreleased a list of 30 new COVID-19 exposure sites.

On Tuesday, there were 118 new cases andthe provincesaid it would pause exposure and flight notifications because of widespread transmission, asking Islanders to consider all public spaces potential exposure sites.