N.W.T.'s active COVID case count reaches 160, majority in Yellowknife

On New Year's Eve theN.W.T. government reported the number of active COVID-19 cases in the territoryreached 160.

According to the territorial government's COVID dashboard,the number of cases increased by 42 in a 24-hour period.

Of the active cases, there are 132 in Yellowknife, four in the Beaufort Delta, three in the Dehcho, eight in Fort Smith, One in Hay River, two in the Sahtu and 10 in the Tch.

Territorial Health Minister Julie Green tweeted about the latest numbers on Dec. 31, but said "we are not back to square one" as 76 per cent of the territory is fully vaccinated.

According to Dec. 18 data on thedashboard, 76 per cent of residents five and older are fully vaccinated, but this number drops to 71 per cent when accounting for the entire population.

Several regions are well below this, including the Tch, which has only 65 per cent of the total population fully vaccinated and the Beaufort Delta with only 69 per cent.

In a news release issued on Dec. 31, the territorial government announced it was changingtesting guidelines, so those deemed low risk of serious infection would only need to report their rapid test and not need to followup with a lab test.

Rapid tests areavailable at the airport,testing centre and through DetectNWT, but travelers arriving into the N.W.T. by car are not able to access them.

Some earlystudies have found the Omicron variant, which public health said is behind the risingcases in the N.W.T., to be milder and that booster shots offer significant protection.

The N.W.T. has been offering booster shots to all residents over the age of 18since late October, well before other regions in Canada began offering them to thegeneral public.

Public health issued more exposure notificationsincluding one for the Monkey Tree pub on Dec. 28 and 29 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

There were also more flight exposures on Dec. 31, includingNorthwestern Air flight 607from Edmonton to Fort SmithandWestjet flight 3359 from Calgary to Yellowknife.