P.E.I. will soon to adjust to living with COVID-19 safely, CPHO says
CBC
Prince Edward Island's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said the province will soon have to adjust to living with COVID-19 safely.
P.E.I. saw the end to a two week circuit breaker on Monday. In a COVID-19 media briefing on Tuesday, Dr. Morrison said the province will gradually ease more pandemic restrictions in the coming weeks.
Morrison says she's been communicating with her counterparts in Atlantic Canada and across the country as Chief Public Health Officers move towards their shared objectives.
"The goal line is going to be the same, we're all going to get there. We may not all arrive on the same week and exactly the same time but certainly we're all moving to really living with COVID," Morrison told CBC News: Compass host Louise Martin.
"For us certainly some of the first easing would be around isolation measures, larger gathering numbers and more recreational games."
Morrison said the Premier and his cabinet have not lobbied for less COVID-19 restrictions. Together, she and the Premier are following the best practices in making decisions, she said.
"It's been a real partnership on looking at the evidence, looking at the science and looking at what's happening around us, not only in P.E.I., but in Atlantic Canada and elsewhere," Morrison said.
"We have been in this pandemic for almost two years, and if we are transitioning to living with COVID, we want to do it as safely as possible and certainly as quickly as possible, but not wanting to harm anyone."
Morrison said masking will remain in place for some time.
"We've always had trouble looking too far ahead because things have changed, but the mask wearing certainly will not be one of the first measures to be eased."
With concern that some businesses on the Island are not requiring their workers to wear masks, Dr. Morrison said masking is still a "legal requirement in public spaces."
"Masks are an important layer of protection for people. We do follow up on complaints regarding mask wearing."
Public schools on P.E.I. resumed Monday, and so far, there have been more than 25 school exposure notifications and 10 for school buses.
Dr. Morrison said in-person schooling will only be closed if there is a higher than normal rate of absences.
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