P.E.I. group calls on government to reinstate COVID-19 measures

A group on Prince Edward Island is calling for a return to tougher COVID-19 restrictions in the province.

That comes as part of a candlelight vigil in Charlottetown Wednesday evening — a memorial marking the COVID-19-related deaths of 52 islanders.

The group Protect our Province P.E.I. (POPPEI) was expecting dozens of people to gather in Rochford Square at 8:30 p.m.

Organizers say it’s also a call to action for the provincial government.

“Public health policy, if you study it at all, requires a layered perspective. That would include masks plus vaccine, not simply vaccine,” said Chris Robinson, a health economist and organizer with POPPEI. “We need that approach and a real plan as children go back to school.”

The group is demanding a return to mandatory masking, improved air filtration in public buildings, more frequent COVID-19 information updates, improved access to rapid tests, and 10 days of paid sick time.

COVID-19 activity has dropped since a small peak in mid-July. Numbers released by the province Tuesday show a drop in case counts and hospitalizations, though there were three new deaths and 35 per cent of people tested were positive for the virus.

“We are still a very hot spot,” said Robinson. “A downward inflection is not the same as ‘we’ve decreased back to where we were in the times of the Atlantic bubble,’ that’s what we want to get back to.”

The province did not accommodate a request for an interview on the topic Wednesday.

The University of Prince Edward Island apparently agrees with at least some of the group’s recommendations. It has become the latest post-secondary institution in the Maritimes to implement on-campus masking in the upcoming fall semester, after making the announcement Tuesday.