P.E.I. reports three new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday; launches home testing pilot project for rural kids

HALIFAX -

Health officials in Prince Edward Island are reporting three new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as the active number of cases in the province rises to 22.

In a release, P.E.I. chief public health officer Dr. Heather Morrison confirmed that two of the new cases involve students at Stratford Elementary School. One involves a child under the age of 10, and the other involves a child between the ages of 10 and 19. Both are close contacts of a previously announced case.

“At this time, there is no evidence of transmission between students at Stratford Elementary, and these cases are not considered an outbreak,” says the news release.

The province says contact tracing is underway, and all close contacts will be tested and may be required to self-isolate, depending on their vaccine status.

The other case involves an individual in their 30s who recently traveled outside of Atlantic Canada.

A potential exposure notification has been issued for PAL Airlines flight PB 1985 that flew from Halifax to Charlottetown on Monday, Sept. 13. Any passengers of that flight should closely monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and visit a drop-in testing clinic if symptoms develop.

Prince Edward Island currently has 22 active cases of COVID-19 and has had 255 positive cases since the pandemic began.

As of Saturday, Sept. 11, a total of 247,385 doses of vaccine have been administered. So far, 92.2 per cent of the eligible population have received at least one dose and 83.7 per cent have received two doses.

The province says approximately 42,000 people in P.E.I. are not fully vaccinated, including 30,000 who haven’t received one dose of the vaccine.

AT-HOME TESTING FOR RURAL CHILDREN

P.E.I. will be launching a new pilot program offering home COVID-19 testing for children under 12 who live in rural areas, the province announced Tuesday.

Home COVID-19 screening kits are now available for children under the age of 12 who live in West Prince County, and Eastern and Southern Kings County.

“The aim of the pilot project is to provide home COVID screening tests to Island families with children, starting in rural P.E.I., where families have more limited access to COVID-19 testing,” said the province in a release.

The kits are available at Access P.E.I. sites in Prince County (Access Tignish and Access O'Leary) and Kings County (Access Souris and Access Montague).

Families are asked to take one or two kits at a time, due to limited supply.