COVID-19 enforcement keeping staff busy as hundreds of tips come in

Conservation officers on P.E.I. are spending a lot of time following up on calls from the public about people allegedly entering the province illegally and others who aren't following public health measures.

Wade MacKinnon, manager of investigation and enforcement, says it was a public tip that led them to lay charges against two people last week who violated public health measures.

One person was sent home by plane.

MacKinnon said he's had to deal with two other similar instances and the excuses are, for the most part, quite similar.

"Most often it's individuals who really don't believe in the COVID measures that have been implemented in Prince Edward Island. That's the biggest issue,where people are not compliant because they don't believe in COVID or don't want to comply with the measures and the orders."

MacKinnon said the most common charge is for violating the requirement to self-isolate.

151 charges laid

As of April 30, out of 151 charges laid, 136 have been for failure to self-isolate.

He said roughly 70 per cent of staff's time is spent enforcing public health measures. Conservation officers also fall back on local police and RCMP to help with enforcement when necessary.

"To date we've responded to 800-plus calls for complaints of self-isolation, or gatherings, and then we have done another 1,200 random visits of individuals who are to be isolating to make sure they are at home. And if they're not home, they're charged."

More from CBC P.E.I.