COVID-19 on P.E.I.: What's happening Friday, May 29

An almost instant shift in the market for potatoes hasleft hundreds of millions of pounds of potatoes unsold across Canada.

Some P.E.I. restaurants say they're relieved to hear Islanderswill be allowed to eat out with friends next weekwithout needing tostaytwo metres apart.

The federal government has extended its ban on cruise shipsin Canadian waters until Oct. 31, effectively ending the cruise ship season for P.E.I.

P.E.I.'s dental hygienists will be returning to work June 12 and Charlottetown's playgrounds will be reopening on June 1.

Applications for seasonal residents to come to the province will open June 1, with theexpectation they could start arriving June 15.

The province will start allowing visits for people in long-term care facilities as part of Phase 3 of P.E.I.'s easing of COVID-19 restrictions, which comes into effect on Monday.

Restrictions in daycare centres will ease Monday, but that doesn't necessarily mean there will be a lot of new spaces right away.

Enjoying the tulip fields will be a drive-thru experience this year.

Cars are also part of the plan for proposed concerts at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival site this summer.

ProvincialHealth Minister James Aylwardonce again cameunder fire for notself-isolatingright away afterreturning to P.E.I. from a health recruitment trip to Ireland in March.

P.E.I. has had 27 confirmed cases of COVID-19. All have recovered. Nearly 6,000 people on P.E.I. have been tested.

Also in the news

• Some restaurants on P.E.I. are busy preparing andmaking some tough decisions as the province moves closer to allowing dining rooms to open across the Island.
• Staff at P.E.I.'s provincial court have been reimagininghow it will operate once it's reopened.
• Here's how three high school teachers are working to reach their students as they learn from home.
• Island high schools have submitted graduation plans and are waiting for approval from the Chief Public Health Office.
• A mantravelling through P.E.I. on his way tothe Magdalen Islandsis upset about the way he was treated on the Island.
• The Canadian Premier League is interested in playing soccer on P.E.I. this year, and that could be a big boost to the tourism industry.

Further resources

• Here isinformation for livingwith the COVID-19 pandemic on P.E.I. including information on government relief programs, physical distancing measures, andessential health services.
• Here arecharts tracking COVID-19 numbers and a timeline of COVID-19-related events on P.E.I.

More COVID-19 stories from CBC P.E.I.