Yellowknife’s Racquet Club on Friday said a “small group of contacts” had been identified at the gym following the two cases of Covid-19 reported in the city this week.
Earlier on Friday, Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn said he and a family member were the two cases identified by public health officials. Norn said he had triggered an exposure advisory after visiting Yellowknife’s Taste of Saigon restaurant on April 19, a day after his 14-day isolation beginning on April 4 had ended.
An employee at the Racquet Club told Cabin Radio the NWT’s chief public health officer “did identify a contact here” and that contact was related to “the case you reported this morning,” referring to Norn or the family member.
“We’ve been following their orders moving forward,” the gym employee said.
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The gym later posted to Facebook that a “small group of contacts” had been identified related to potential exposure on April 18, the day Norn said his 14-day isolation period ended.
Members of the gym use a fob system that tracks who was in attendance at any given point.
“Our contact list is very small,” the employee told Cabin Radio. “Everyone who was in contact with the case has already been contacted by public health.”
Following the Racquet Club’s disclosure, Norn could not be immediately reached for comment.
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In an earlier statement, Norn said he crossed the border back into the NWT on the evening of April 4 following a family emergency in Alberta. His isolation period would have ended on the evening of April 18.
The Racquet Club did not specify the time that day at which possible exposure took place. On Sundays such as April 18, the club’s posted opening hours are 8am until 8pm.
The NWT government issues exposure advisories if potential exposure to Covid-19 affects a significant number of people or not all possible contacts can be immediately identified.
The identification of just one contact would not ordinarily trigger an exposure alert and no such warning has been issued by the territory this week, other than for Norn’s trip to Taste of Saigon.
Around 40 contacts have been identified at Yellowknife’s École St Patrick High School following the two cases. Both the school and territorial government said they did not yet consider an outbreak to be in progress and contacts were isolating.
