COVID-19 on P.E.I.: What's happening Friday, July 9

Premier Dennis King announced at a briefing Friday the wearing of masks indoors is no longer mandatory, but it is still strongly recommended for those not fully vaccinated. At the same briefing, King said residents of Atlantic Canada with a PEIPass will no longer be tested at the border.

An Islander now working with a pandemic research team at Oxford University says P.E.I.'s decision to prioritize young front-line workers for vaccination was "quite a smart move."

It's never easy for P.E.I. restaurants to find enough cooks, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it worse.

Yet numbers released by Statistics Canada on Friday indicate the Island's unemployment rate jumped sharply in June, as morepeople entered the workforce looking for work, and there was a loss of 1,400 full-time jobs.

Access to walk-in clinics in the province became more difficult when the pandemic started, and it is still a challenge.

If you are looking for a tattoo on P.E.I., you might have to wait... and COVID-19 may be partly to blame.

The P.E.I. Pharmacists Association says uptake of the COVID-19 vaccines at pharmacies across the Island has been "very good" over the last few weeks.

P.E.I. has oneactive caseof COVID-19 as of Friday, and has seen a total of 208.

Elsewhere in Atlantic Canada:

• Nova Scotia reported one new COVID-19 case on Friday, and has 39 active cases.
• Newfoundland and Labrador has two new cases aboard a cargo ship anchored in Conception Bay, and has 16 active cases.
• New Brunswick has no new cases and the number of active cases has dropped to seven.

Also in the news

• Gas prices are expected to continue to rise, driven by increased demand with the world economy recovering as it comes out of the pandemic, along with the regular higher summer demand.
• The P.E.I. Pride Festival will include more in-person events this year.
• Nearly 3,000 people from outside the Atlantic region had applied for a PEI Passby midday Tuesday the first day they were allowed to apply.
• Charlottetown Rural High School valedictorian Brandon MacKinnongave his graduating speech 11 times. And it was COVID's fault.

TheseIslanders are currently eligible for a vaccine

• People over 12.
• Islanders over 18can book an appointment for Moderna vaccine at a pharmacy.

You can find more information about how to get a vaccinehere.

Further resources

• Here isa chart of COVID-19 cases on P.E.I. since March 2020, and a timelineof pandemic events.
• Here is a look at how coronavirus isspreading across Canada.

Reminder about symptoms

The symptoms of COVID-19 can include:

• Fever.
• Cough or worsening of a previous cough.
• Possible loss of taste and/or smell.
• Sore throat.
• New or worsening fatigue.
• Headache.
• Shortness of breath.
• Runny nose.

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