HALIFAX -- Summerside Police issued P.E.I.'s first ticket for violating a public health order in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday.
After being warned twice in one day by police, a Summerside man has been fined $1,000 for failing to self-isolate upon returning to the Island, Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.'s chief public health officer announced during a news conference on Tuesday,
During a traffic stop Monday, police discovered the man had recently returned from another province, and was not self-isolating. Police charged him under the Highway Traffic Act, and warned him to return home and continue self-isolating.
Later on Monday, officers attended the man's residence, and saw him walking on Water Street East. Again, he was warned that he must continue to self-isolate.
On Tuesday morning at approximately 10 a.m., police noticed the same man was a passenger in a vehicle on Granville St.
Officers pulled over the vehicle and charged the man under the Public Health Act for failing to comply with an order of the Chief Public Health Officer. He was issued a fine of $1,000, the first fine issued in the province.
On Monday, P.E.I. Premier Dennis King, said he has asked the attorney general to reinforce the priority of enforcement of physical distancing and self-isolation.
“I am disappointed that some still aren’t listening to Dr. Morrison,” said King, who just completed a 14-day self-isolation after returning from travel in the U.S. “We have brought in fines, and engaged law enforcement to make sure Islanders followed her directions, but this still isn’t enough for some of you.”
Islanders who return from travel outside the province are being directed to self-isolate for 14 days.
People who don’t comply with the order to self-isolate could face a fine of $1,000 for a first offence, $2,000 for a second and $10,000 for any subsequent violation.
