P.E.I. has 3 new COVID-19 cases; Souris daycare shut over positive test

P.E.I. announced three new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, including one involving a child under the age of 12.

The child is a student at Eastern Kings Early Learning Academy, according to a news release from the Chief Public Health Office. The daycare centre will be closed on Tuesday to allow for cleaning, and so that children and staff can get tested.

The province says a decision on whether to reopen the centre will be made once test results are available.

Two of the new cases are related to travel outside of the province, and one was a close contact of a previously reported case.

The other two individuals who tested positive are in their 40s and 20s, respectively.

Contact tracing is underway and all individuals are self-isolating.

The province also provided a follow-up to the cases linked to Ecole La-Belle-Cloche this weekend.

It said close contacts as well as staff and students experiencing symptoms were told to attend a Health P.E.I. testing clinic on Monday. Other students and staff were asked to be tested at a pop-up clinic at the Souris school.

"The response to the request to be tested was very positive," the CPHO news release said. "An update on the number of tests performed will be provided at the Tuesday, December 7 public health briefing."

The province is asking anyone in the Souris area who is experiencing symptoms to get tested, even if the symptoms are mild.

The province has 22 active cases as of Monday evening, and there have been 392 cases since the pandemic began.