New COVID-19 case announced; male teen had recently arrived on P.E.I.
Male in 'late teens' was self-isolating; flight information given for 2 previous cases
A new case of COVID-19 has been detected on Prince Edward Island, bringing the active case number to three and the total cases since the pandemic began to 47.
The latest case was announced Friday afternoon, involving a male in his late teens that had been abroad before arriving on the Island on Saturday, Aug. 29.
He immediately went into isolation before being tested on Sept. 4, the Chief Public Health Office said in a news release.
"He continues to do well with mild symptoms, remains in self-isolation and is being followed daily by public health nursing," the news release said, adding that contact tracing was underway.
There is no word on whether the latest case involves a Canadian returning to the country from abroad or a non-citizen entering for an allowed reason.
Those reasons include acceptance to attend a Canadian institution as an international student and a confirmed job offer to work in an industry deemed essential such as health, food services and transport.
The P.E.I. release issued Friday does not describe the latest patient as an essential worker, though.
So far, Dr. Heather Morrison's office has always specified when new patients are essential workers, though usually not noting which industry employs them other than to say whether or not it is the health-care sector.
Flight information for 2 previous patients
Friday's news release also gave flight information for the two previous new cases, confirmed Thursday.
The statement said the two men left Vancouver on Aug. 23 to fly to Toronto on Air Canada Flight 128, spent several hours in Pearson International Airport, then took Air Canada Flight 8358 to Charlottetown the next day, Aug. 24.
"The Chief Public Health Office has been in communication with the airline and, out of an abundance of caution, all passengers who travelled on these flights should monitor for symptoms. If any passengers develop symptoms of COVID-19 they should call their primary care provider or 811 to arrange for testing."
One of the cases confirmed on Thursday was a man in his 20s; the other was a man in his 30s.
None of the 47 Island cases confirmed since March has required hospitalization; all have been travel-related.
The government's stats show that 72 per cent of cases detected on P.E.I. have involved male patients, and all but 12 have involved people aged 20 to 59.
No decision on alert app
Meanwhile, Morrison's office said P.E.I. officials have not made a decision about when the province might adopt the national mobile notification app meant to tell people when they have been close to someone who later tested positive for COVID-19.
The app went live in Newfoundland and Labrador this week.
"The Chief Public Health Office will review the evaluation of the app in Ontario prior to making a decision on adopting it in P.E.I.," the office said in an email to CBC News.
"The CPHO will also continue to have conversations with Health Canada and are waiting to hear how the app is working in Ontario."