As P.E.I. continues to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, the Crown continues to prosecute people for not self-isolating.
During court proceedings Tuesday for a man who tested positive and didn’t self-isolate, Crown attorney John Diamond said people are regularly being charged with summary offences under the Public Health Act and have been since the rules went into effect.
Those charges result in $1,000 fines.
Javan Mizero Nsangira pleaded guilty in September to two counts of committing a common nuisance by endangering the public after he failed to self-isolate while he had COVID-19.
Diamond told the court people in P.E.I. have been arrested under the same provision in the Criminal Code of Canada but later tested negative.
Those people were then prosecuted under the Public Health Act instead, Diamond said.
He also said the community sees the public good from the restrictions and considers them to be reasonable.
As an example of how seriously Islanders are taking COVID-19, Diamond referred to the public backlash last year when the province announced it would allow seasonal residents to return to P.E.I. as of June 1.
“It was outrage,” he said.
