Six new cases of Covid-19 were reported by the NWT government on Wednesday. Five are linked to an outbreak at the Gahcho Kué diamond mine and one is linked to out-of-territory travel.
Three of the five patients related to the mine outbreak are NWT residents. The other two are out-of-territory workers. All five are isolating either at the mine or at a Yellowknife isolation centre and are doing well, the territory said.
The case related to travel involves a person who flew to Yellowknife on Friday, February 12. Their condition was not given.
Public health is contacting passengers who were seated in rows three to nine of Canadian North flight 238 from Edmonton to Yellowknife that day.
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If you were in one of the rows on that flight and haven’t yet been contacted, continue to isolate and book a Covid-19 test.
No other exposure advisory was issued. The territorial government said the risk to the public was being assessed and a statement will be made if any further risk is identified.
The territory said the five cases related to the Gahcho Kué outbreak didn’t pose a risk to any NWT communities. The outbreak now features 15 cases of Covid-19. Of those, three patients have recovered.
The mine suspended operations on February 6.
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Gahcho Kué has flown 95 out-of-territory workers to their home provinces, the territorial government said, while a team of essential workers of unspecified size remains at the site.
As of Tuesday, 75 NWT workers and 31 out-of-territory workers were isolating in Yellowknife.
“Public health officials are working with the company to ensure the individuals with Covid-19 and contacts continue to safely isolate,” the territory said.
“Deep cleaning on site has begun and the company plans to bring an industrial hygiene crew to site to undertake further sanitization prior to resuming operations.”
