The annual curling tournament usually takes place in January and decides which team represents P.E.I. at the national women’s curling championship.

Jamie Newson, the president of Curl P.E.I., said it was in the best interest to cancel to keep players, coaches and staff safe.

“We were hoping to still be able to run the women’s event with some strict protocols in place, but we didn’t feel it was a wise decision at this time,” he said.

“We were waiting on Curl Canada, there had been some talks, rumours basically, whether the national event would be postponed in light of case counts all across the country, and we had confirmation yesterday that they were going ahead as scheduled for the end of January.

“With such a tight timeline we had no option to postpone the event any longer.”

This year’s event was supposed to take place at the Montague Curling Club from Jan. 5-9.

Newson said there is still a plan to send a team to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Thunder Bay, Ont.

Newson said clubs and players agreed that it was the right decision to cancel the P.E.I. Scotties, and that the response has been nothing but positive.

“It’s discouraging that we’re in this situation, but at the end of the day you have to do what’s best for everyone’s health and safety,” he said.