P.E.I. reports 31 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, new restrictions

Prince Edward Island is reporting 31 new cases of COVD-19 on Friday, bringing the total number of active infections in the province to 75.

“This is a record high number of cases for P.E.I.,” says Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.’s chief public health officer.

“While Delta took over as the dominant variant, beginning earlier in the summer, we fully expect Omicron will quickly overtake Delta in the coming days.”

Morrison announced a second confirmed case of the Omicron variant on the Island. This case was announced previously and is linked to the outbreak at St. FX.

ADJUSTING RESTRICTIONS

Earlier this week the province released new interim measures aimed at mitigating the spread of the Omicron variant. Friday, Morrison announced the need to adjust those measures.

“Modeling in other provinces suggests that healthcare systems, including critical care capacity, could be overwhelmed in the next few weeks. This variant is moving faster than any jurisdiction can react. We need to do everything we can to slow down the spread of Omicron.”

The following additional measures come into effect Saturday, Dec. 18 at 8 a.m. and will continue until Jan. 8, 2022:

• Personal gatherings are limited to 10 people, plus your household members. Islanders should have a steady 10 people, not a different 10 people each day.
• Visitation in long-term care and community care has been adjusted to allow three partners in care, plus three designated visitors with physical distancing.
• Strict physical distancing between people from different households is required for organizations, events, venues, businesses, and organized gatherings.
• Physical distancing is now going to be a legal requirement, not just a recommendation, to a maximum of 50 per cent capacity in retail businesses and vax pass events, including theatres, gyms, community gatherings, casinos, etc.
• Restaurants and eating establishments must maintain six feet between tables and continue to require proof of vaccination for patrons.
• Masking is required by all patrons, except for when actively eating or drinking.
• The maximum table size in an eating establishment will be 10 people.
• There is to be no dancing at any event and karaoke is not permitted.
• All indoor sport and recreational activities are paused for Island residents, regardless of age; this includes all organized sports, tournaments, competitions, games, team training and practices. Individual recreational activities are permitted such as personal fitness, one-on-one fitness, dance, or music classes, however strict physical distancing at recreational activities is required.

Church services can proceed as planned during the Christmas season, however they must respect masking, cohorting, and physical distancing requirements.

“These are not the messages we want to be delivering. While we have been successful at containing COVID-19 to date, we will not be able to contain the spread of the Omicron variant in the same way,” says Morrison.

“We have to anticipate the Omicron will create significant strain on the healthcare system and public health system, both of which are already fragile.”

Morrison says the province needs to take quick and decisive action now to allow time to learn more about the Omicron variant over the next few weeks. She stressed the following steps:

• We need to reduce our number of close contacts by at least 50 per cent.
• We need more children, aged five to 11, immunized.
• We need more people who are eligible to get their third dose of vaccine.
• We need to stress the requirement for people of different households to remain physically distant.

COMMUNITY SPREAD

The majority of the recent cases on the Island are linked to travel, either directly or indirectly. Morrison says some are close contacts of previous cases and for others, there is no link to travel or other cases, meaning there is community spread.

“Given the volume of new cases, we will have to adjust how we conduct contact tracing. We will focus on making initial contact with new cases and close contacts to provide isolation and testing instructions. We may have to forgo comprehensive contact tracing and assume there is widespread community transmission at some point,” says Morrison.

Over the last few days, Morrison says public health has seen COVID-19 spread very quickly and, sometimes, with very little contact.

“Like other provinces, we are in for a very challenging time, with great potential to strain all aspects of our healthcare system and to disrupt the province in general. We know the Omicron variant is highly transmissible and, like other provinces, we are seeing cases rising quickly,” says Morrison.

“Many people infected with Omicron are symptomatic and it is too early to tell if we are going to see hospitalization and ICU admissions.”