P.E.I. brings back quarantine requirement for vaccinated people arriving in province

Starting Wednesday at 8 a.m. all people arriving on P.E.I. will have to self-isolate for a minimum of four days.

Fully vaccinated people with the P.E.I. Vax Pass will have to isolate for four days, but unvaccinated individuals will still have to complete eight days of self-isolation.

Premier Dennis King made the announcement at a public briefing Tuesday.

Fully vaccinated people who have the P.E.I. Vax Pass will be given two rapid tests: one for day two and one for day four. If both tests are negative, the person may come out of isolation.

"This is not the situation we planned to be in," said King.

"I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart I'm sorry we are going through this."

If a person chooses to move into a household, everyone in that household must self-isolate.

The province is also mandating early closing of bars and restaurants.

29 new COVID-19 cases

Following King, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison announced 29 new cases on the Island, making for 112 active cases as of 8 a.m. AT Tuesday.

Morrison said 18 of the cases announced last week were the Omicron variant.

"Even if the severity of disease caused by Omicron is equal or lower than that of the Delta strain, the increased transmissibility and exponential growth of cases will rapidly outweigh any benefits of potentially reduced severity," said Morrison.

The province also announced 24 potential public exposures that happened last week. Most of the new sites are in Charlottetown, although there are some in Vernon River and Summerside.

Monday, Dec. 13

• Seafood Express (96 Sherwood Rd., Charlottetown) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Needs Convenience (152 Belvedere Ave., Charlottetown) between 5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 14

• Seafood Express (96 Sherwood Rd., Charlottetown) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Eastern Auto Supply (42 St. Peter's Rd., Charlottetown) between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 15

• Refrigeration Specialists Inc. (5800 Georgetown Rd., Vernon River) between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Seafood Express (96 Sherwood Rd., Charlottetown) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Service Master Office (2 Grant St., Charlottetown) between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 16

• Iron Haven Gym (465 Water St., Summerside) between 7:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.
• Refrigeration Specialists Inc. (5800 Georgetown Rd., Vernon River) between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Seafood Express (96 Sherwood Rd., Charlottetown) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Modo Yoga (4 Princess Cres., Charlottetown) between 4:30 p.m. and 5:45 p.m.
• Taco Boys (393 University Ave., Charlottetown) between 7:20 p.m. and 8:20 p.m.

Friday, Dec. 17

• Iron Haven Gym (465 Water St., Summerside) between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m.
• Refrigeration Specialists Inc. (5800 Georgetown Rd., Vernon River) between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Service Master  Office (2 Grant St., Charlottetown) between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.
• Z&G Restaurant (98 Water St., Summerside) between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
• Holland College High Performance Centre (Charlottetown Centre, 140 Weymouth St., Charlottetown) between 3 p.m. and 4:15 p.m.
• Olde Dublin Pub (131 Sydney St., Charlottetown) between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m.
• Linkletter Welding Ltd (26 Linkletter Ave., Central Bedeque) between 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 18

• Iron Haven Gym (465 Water St., Summerside) between 9:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
• Subway (484 Granville St., Summerside) between 4 p.m. and 4:20 p.m.
• Sobeys (475 Granville St., Summerside) between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.
• PEI Liquor (475 Granville St., Summerside) between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Sunday, Dec. 19

• Granville Street Diner (454 Granville St., Summerside) between 2:45 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

A flight notification was also issued for Air Canada Flight 8218 departing Montreal on Dec. 16 and arriving Friday, Dec. 17.

Concern over hospitalizations

King also expressed concern about the capacity of the health-care system.

"The limitations we have in capacity has always made us go a little more quickly than other jurisdictions," he said.

"Nine hospitalizations in P.E.I. is a lot different than nine in Nova Scotia."

Morrison acknowledged that the news is disheartening and said she realized that everyone is tired, but encouraged everyone to do what they can to keep the pandemic under control on the Island.

King and Morrison applauded the sacrifice of the hundreds of people who are currently self-isolating on the Island. Those numbers include 125 students from Montague, Belfast and Colonel Gray.

Trouble with 3rd shots

Morrison said she has heard concerns about the difficulty in scheduling a third dose of COVID-19.

On Tuesday morning, public health clinics in Charlottetown were showing no available appointments.

"It'll be all hands on deck trying to use boosters," said Morrison.

"We can't booster our way out of this wave but we can certainly help try to protect those who are vulnerable for severe outcomes by getting them boostered."

She said Health P.E.I. is trying to add more clinics and capacity to offer booster shots, noting that a large number of Islanders will become eligible for a third shot in January.