P.E.I. hits record active COVID-19 case count as province announces 21 new cases
CBC
P.E.I. announced 21 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, bringing the active case count to a record 88 cases.
The Chief Public Health Office said in a news release the new cases are under investigation and that contact tracing is underway. Anyone who is identified as a close contact will be contacted by the province with testing instructions.
The announcement brings the total number of cases the province has had since the pandemic began to 504.
Cases on the Island have risen exponentially in the past week. Eighty-nine cases have been reported in the last seven days, almost one-fifth of all cases yet recorded in the province.
New restrictions have come into effect amid the rise in cases and the discovery of the Omicron variant in the province.
Over the weekend, the province announced 13 new cases and over 50 exposure sites.
The CPHO also reminds islanders personal gathering limits are now 10 people plus household members, and that these 10 people should not be attending several small gatherings featuring different groups.
"If attending a small personal gathering, it is always important to maintain physical distancing from those from outside of your household," the release said.
"Everyone is reminded of the importance of physical distancing, wearing a three-layer mask, getting tested when symptomatic and staying home when sick."
The Rachel Notley government's consumer carbon tax wound up becoming a weapon the UCP wielded to drum the Alberta NDP out of office. But that levy-and-repayment program, and the wide-ranging "climate leadership plan" around it, also stood as the NDP's boldest, provincial-reputation-altering move in their single-term tenure.