CANADA, December 23 - Hon. Dennis King, Premier of Prince Edward Island issued the following statement after speaking with Santa Claus this morning: 

“Early this morning Dr. Morrison and I spoke with Santa Claus and reviewed the current COVID-19 restrictions for Prince Edward Island.   Santa has informed us the elves have been working on a new Santa suit for this year that will allow him to safely enter all Island homes, even if the children are isolating.    

Santa told us that he is symptom-free and provided his QR code that we scanned with our PEI VaxPass Verifier App and we can confirm that Santa is double vaccinated and has received his booster dose.  I’ve let Ryan Neale from Public Health know to expect Santa Claus to arrive at our point of entry this evening to get his rapid test.  Santa will wait two hours before visiting any homes to ensure the test is negative.

Santa knows there is a surplus of potatoes on Prince Edward Island and mentioned that instead of carrots for the reindeer, Islanders could leave out a PEI potato – apparently Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen all are big fans of our PEI spuds!

I want to wish Santa and all Islanders a very safe and happy holiday season.   Merry Christmas, Everyone!”