P.E.I. reports no new cases of COVID-19 as provincial neighbours deal with outbreaks

Prince Edward Island is announcing no new cases, as its provincial neighbours are preparing updates later today to indicate whether there’s a continuing growth in their COVID-19 cases.

The majority of the Nova Scotia cases in the recent outbreak are in the Halifax area, with 15 of the 16 cases announced on Monday occurring in the provincial capital.

Atlantic Canada’s largest city has been under increased restrictions since Thursday that have seen the closure of in-person dining at restaurants and of public libraries, museums, gyms, yoga studios and casinos.

The outbreak led to the withdrawal from the Atlantic regional bubble of Prince Edward and Newfoundland and Labrador last week along with New Brunswick which is also dealing with its own recent surge in cases.

In P.E.I., Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said her office still doesn’t know how a student from Charlottetown Rural High School who was diagnosed on the weekend was infected.

Morrison said extensive testing on about 70 close contacts has not turned up a source, although it’s likely the student had contact who someone who had travelled off the Island.

She said 102 people are currently in self-isolation as a result of being a positive case or a close contact of a case. The Island has four active cases.

2:03 N.L., P.E.I. pull out of Atlantic bubble amid rising COVID-19 cases

Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador confirmed one new case of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

Health officials said the travel-related case involved a man in the Eastern Health region between 50-59 years of age who had returned to the province from work in British Columbia.

The province has 33 active cases with no one in hospital due to the virus.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2020.