COVID-19 on P.E.I.: What's happening Saturday, June 20

As the four Atlantic premiers haggle over when to open their borders to each other and the rest of Canada, P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said it would be "unfair" to suggest a date when that could happen until he is certain he can deliver on the promise.

King distanced his administration from a statement made Friday by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs, who saidthat after opening their borders to one another, the four premiers are "all aligned that we hope to expand across the country in mid-July, sometime in July."

It's hard to imagine summer on P.E.I. without Anne of Green Gables. While the two big theatre productions at the Confederation Centre of the Arts and the Guild have been cancelled for 2020 due to COVID-19, the Guild will feature a new show calledThe Songs of Anne and Gilbert The Musicalfeaturing its two main characters.

Some good news for the potato industry: the planting season wrapped up ahead of schedule thanks to great weather conditions.

Statistics Canada released the dismal results of the retail sector for April on Friday, but P.E.I. retailers are open again and looking forward to a brighter future.

P.E.I. correctional officials say noinmates sent home from jail wearing electronic ankle bracelets during the COVID-19 pandemic have reoffended.

A P.E.I. couple have been trying to get home from Mexico since April, but have faced repeated flight cancellations.

Students will be back in school this fall. A CBC special report investigatedhow schools have been preparing.

Stores on P.E.I. are still struggling to keep some items in stock.

P.E.I. has had 27 confirmed cases, the most recent on April 28. All have recovered. About 9,100 COVID-19 tests from P.E.I. have been done.

Also in the news

• In an interview onCBC News: Compass, Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said more details are being worked out for Phase 4 of P.E.I.'s ease-back plan, scheduled to start next Friday, June 26.
• A P.E.I. pastor was disappointed to find a nasty note on her windshield telling her to go back to the mainland. Her car has Nova Scotia plates.
• Island lobster fishermen are asking for a four-day extension to their season. The pandemic delayed the start of the season by two weeks.Temporary foreign workers from Mexico are continuing to arrive on P.E.I., despite that country's concerns about deaths from COVID-19 in Ontario.
• The provincial budget has been released and the P.E.I. government is projecting the biggest budget deficit in its historyas spending increasedduring the pandemic.
• The projecteddeficit by the Conservative governmentcomes in at $173 million, leaving mixed feelings among Greens and Liberals.

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 is acharttracking COVID-19 numbers and a timeline of COVID-19-related events on P.E.I.

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