Fast, early action needed

The numbers might not be big, but they are being taken seriously.

That people are jumpy about COVID-19 inside the remains of the Atlantic bubble is clear: in Prince Edward Island, after four new COVID-19 cases were announced in the province on Sunday, the province’s premier and health authorities asked that everyone between the ages of 20 and 29 in the Charlottetown area get tested for the virus. Monday morning, a COVID-19 testing site in Charlottetown was crowded with people seeking tests.

Four high schools were moved to remote learning, and the province closed restaurants to indoor dining, suspended organized sports and closed libraries. Private gatherings were banned and stores were told to reduce their capacity of shoppers, all over concerns that there may be community spread of the virus taking place.

In Newfoundland, three different towns have done their own partial shutdowns, independent of the provincial health authority: Deer Lake, in western Newfoundland, and Grand Bank, on the Burin Peninsula, put in restrictions after small bumps in case numbers, with Deer Lake shutting down its municipal buildings and recreation facilities for a period of time.

And this past weekend, the town of Harbour Breton, on the Connaigre Peninsula, asked residents to stay home, closing the town office and recreation centre after two cases appeared that didn’t have a clear source, igniting fears of potential community spread. Two area schools were also closed Monday. A mobile testing facility was dispatched to the town.

And if there is a lesson from everywhere else in Canada, it’s that, once it’s out, the COVID-19 genie does not like to go back into its lamp.