Rise in COVID-19, whooping cough cases has P.E.I.’s top doctor ‘concerned’ – CBC
Dr. Heather Morrison says new influenza, COVID vaccines could be on the Island before end of September
Sep 04, 2024
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says she is “concerned” about the upcoming respiratory illness season given what’s already circulating in P.E.I.
The province is currently experiencing an outbreak of pertussis, or whooping cough, and Morrison said COVID-19 has been more active across the province this summer than it was last year.
“This summer has been steady activity with some … peaks and valleys, but no significant drops or extended periods of low activity,” Morrison told CBC News.
“I think this is likely due to waning immunity and the circulation of [new COVID] variants that have greater transmissibility and immune evasion.”
P.E.I. saw 116 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the latest two-week reporting period, July 28 to Aug. 24, and another 142 in the two weeks before that. Test positivity rates through July and August hovered just shy of 17 per cent.
“What we’re seeing in the community now is similar to what we’ve been seeing all summer,” Morrison said.
