Record 118 new cases of COVID-19 announced on P.E.I. Tuesday

P.E.I. reported 118 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, a record high number of new daily cases for the province.

The cases are under investigation and contact tracing is underway, according to a press release from the province. Close contacts will be notified with instructions on testing and isolation requirements.

This brings the total active case count to 410 — another record high for the province. Since Monday's numbers were released, there have been 17 new recoveries. Nobody is in hospital due to the virus.

According to the province, there has been an average of 51 new cases per day over the last seven days. There have been 893 cases of COVID-19 on the Island since the pandemic began.

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

Moving forward, the government said it would pause exposure and flight notifications because of widespread transmission, asking Islanders to consider all public spaces potential exposure sites.

Limited testing

P.E.I. is limiting testing to those who are symptomatic, close contacts of COVID-19 cases, and 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.

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.

The Montague COVID-19 testing site will be closed on Thursday due to lab capacity, according to the release. The O'Leary testing clinic was also closed Tuesday because of lab capacity.

The testing clinics in Borden-Carleton, Summerside and Charlottetown were all open Tuesday. They will close on Jan. 1, and the Summerside clinic will be closed on Jan. 2 as well.

Vaccination numbers

As of Dec. 25, 95.4 per cent of eligible Island residents aged 12 and above have received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, according to the release. There are 92.2 per cent of eligible Islanders fully vaccinated with two doses.

The release said 41.9 per cent of children ages five to 11 have received their first dose.

There was a pop-up booster vaccination clinic on Tuesday between 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. at the Sherwood Business Centre in Charlottetown. About 75 to 100 Moderna shots were available. The clinic was open for people 50 and older who received their second dose at least six months ago.

At about 9:30 a.m., Health P.E.I. tweeted that all spots for the pop-up clinic were already booked for Tuesday and an added clinic on Wednesday.

Health P.E.I. also said in the tweet that more pop-up clinics would come in the near future.

In the rest of Atlantic Canada, Nova Scotia reported 561 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, New Brunswick announced 306 new cases and Newfoundland reported 194.