N.W.T. active COVID-19 case count more than doubles, hits 73

The Northwest Territories' active COVID-19 case count has more than doubled, climbing from 34 on Monday to 73 as of Tuesday evening.

The Sahtu region is the hardest hit, with 57 cases, according to the territorial government's online COVID-19 dashboard. All but one of those are N.W.T. residents.

Fort Good Hope, a community of approximately 500 people,has more cases than all other communities combined with 44 infections.

Several new COVID-19 exposure notices where issued Tuesday evening as well. They include a number of flights:

• Norman Wells to Inuvik on Aug. 14, Canadian North Flight 244, affected Rows13-19. Fully vaccinated in affected rows mustself monitor, and ifsymptoms develop, immediately isolate, and arrange testing. Partially/unvaccinated in affected rows must isolate 10 days and arrange testing.
• Edmonton to Yellowknife on Aug. 15, WestJet flight 3258, affected rows 14-20.Fully vaccinated in affected rows mustself-monitor, and ifsymptoms develop, immediately isolateand arrange testing. Partially/unvaccinated in affected rows must isolate 10 days arrange testing.
• Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake to Yellowknife or surrounding communities Aug. 5 to present on North-Wright Airways. Everyone on those flights was possibly exposed.Fully vaccinated in affected rows mustself-monitor, and ifsymptoms develop, immediately isolateand arrange testing. Partially/unvaccinated in affected rows must isolate 10 days and arrange testing.

Anyone who took a cab in Yellowknife between Aug. 9 and now is also asked to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and wear a mask in public places. If symptomsdevelop, a person should immediately self-isolate and arrange for testing.

Bingo events at the Tree of Peacein Yellowknife between 4 and 9 p.m. on Aug. 8 and Aug. 10 through 14are now considered high exposure settings. Anyone who attended must isolate for 10 days and arrange for testing.

Testing being triaged

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kami Kandola said testing is being triaged and prioritized for the following groups:

• Out-of-territory travellers entering small communities.
• Essential workers in Hay River, Inuvik, Yellowknife, Norman Wells and Fort Simpsonfollowing out-of-territory travel.
• Release-from-isolation testing for unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people after returning from out-of-territory travel.
• Essential workers who need exemptions due to their vaccination status or household isolation.
• People who've been directed to get tested by public health staff.
• People who are symptomatic.

Asymptomatic people who don't fit in those categories and appear for testing may be turned away.

Kandola is now strongly discouraging non-essential travel into and out of Dln and Tulita, in addition to Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake.

Masking in indoor public places is recommended across the territory.

On Monday Fort Good Hope declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 outbreak. Chief Tommy Kakfwi told CBC the community did not have the resources to meetthe demands of the crisis.

According to the government website, the dashboard is updated daily Monday through Friday, excluding holidays,by 5 p.m., and only represents lab results processed before 9:00 a.m.

Yellowknife also more than doubled its active cases of the virus: from seven on Monday to 15 on Tuesday.

There are no active cases reported in the Dehcho, Fort Smith or Hay River regions.