An ounce of prevention

The P.E.I. government's decision Wednesday to allow seasonal residents to return to the province as of June 1 opened more than just our entry points, it cracked a can of worms that some no doubt wished remained sealed.

With the Island continuing the trend of seeing no new cases of COVID-19, government officials here say they are comfortable welcoming back some seasonal residents.

Premier Dennis King said those residents are a big part of the community and make a “tremendous contribution” to social and economic well-being.

That statement is true, at least in part, but it's not a good enough reason to risk our achievements in fighting COVID-19.

Starting June 1, people from other parts of Canada will begin the process to return to their P.E.I. summer homes. They must submit their travel and property ownership documentation, as well as their self-isolation plans and other details before coming. Once here, they will have to self-isolate for 14 days.

This decision opens the Island up to as many as 2,400 people coming from parts of the country where the virus is not necessarily under control. It's a nice gesture but it's the wrong move. We have not, to date, experienced any COVID19-related deaths but we know that is luck, not design as we don't get to choose who dies. What we do know is that while we may have "flattened the curve," there will be a second wave of the virus. There has not been a pandemic in recorded history that has not produced a second wave of infection.

That alone should be enough to prevent any such moves.

Not only that, but how can we risk our economy, which is just starting to inch forward again, for the sake of a few hundred visitors who want to enjoy a summer at the beach?

In Newfoundland, one person's infection resulted in 170 others testing positive for the virus — at least one of those people died. As this case, called the "Caul's Cluster", proves, why are we even considering opening our borders, regardless of its likelihood?

P.E.I. needs to be more like New Brunswick where they, too, have had success containing the virus. The difference there is Premier Blaine Higgs has wisely taken a hard stance and continues to refuse entry to seasonal residents.

There is just no logic to King's move.

Our kids can't go to school. Seniors are essentially locked inside their nursing homes. Businesses are shut — some permanently. One needs lunch, a map and a lucky horseshoe to find toilet paper and flour in Island stores. But Dennis King wants to open up the doors to a handful of seasonal residents? What have all our sacrifices been for?

Twenty-four hundred people are not going to save the economy and the mere suggestion that it will is proof the lack of government accountability, which has been missing since the pandemic began, has gone on long enough.