2nd tests negative for all children at exposed daycare, says Dr. Morrison

P.E.I. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison says all the second tests forchildren who were potentially exposed to COVID-19 at the Leaps and Bounds Daycare in Charlottetown have come back negative.

The childcare centre closed last week after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19. About 40 children and eight staff had to be tested and self-isolate, as well as close relatives of the children.

"We've had a total of six cases really related to that outbreak at the daycare, they are all adults and close contacts of the daycare worker. So we've had results back from the children at the daycare, their second tests, and they have all come back negative this morning," Morrison toldCompass host Louise Martin during her weekly interview.

"Certainly I am more reassured after this second test and will be even more so after the third test."

On Wednesday another daycare facility in eastern P.E.I closed for the day afteran inconclusive test result was received. They were retested with a negative result and the daycare centre reopened Thursday.

"It happens for a variety of reasons every so often, but certainly having it happen when it involves a child at a daycare or early learning centre was a little more challenging," she said.

"We certainly didn't want, just in case, the children to gather at the child care centre in case it had come back positive on repeat testing, so it's not the first person we've had to do a repeat test on for basically an indeterminate result.

"But it was, I think, the first time we've had to do so with a child at a daycare facility or an early learning facility."

Although there was a new cluster of cases this week, Dr. Morrison said it's encouraging to see P.E.I.'s case detection protocols doing their job.

"The cases that have come into this province in the last five weeks have all been travel related or directly close contacts with someone who has traveled," she said.

"It reminds us the importance of self isolation, the importance of testing, to recognize these cases early."

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