Four new cases in Yellowknife Covid-19 cluster

The territorial government on Monday announced four new cases of Covid-19 related to the NJ Macpherson School outbreak in Yellowknife, bringing the cluster total to 69.

Of those 69 cases, 24 are currently active while 45 have recovered, according to the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer. Eighty-six percent of positive cases related to the cluster so far have been in children younger than 18.

A positive case remains active in a non-resident worker at the Diavik diamond mine, bringing the total number of active cases in the territory to 25.

There were no new public exposure notifications. There have been no hospitalizations related to the Yellowknife outbreak to date.

The NJ Macpherson School cluster involves the B117 variant – or “UK variant” – of the virus that causes Covid-19.

Schools in Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilǫ, and Behchokǫ̀ reopened this week after a two-week suspension imposed by the NWT’s chief public health officer when the outbreak first began.

Only NJ Macpherson School did not reopen alongside other schools on Monday. Students and staff members have been told they must test negative for Covid-19 before returning, leading the school to postpone reopening until Wednesday in case of a staffing shortage.

Reopened schools must ensure students and staff wear masks at all times, among other newly introduced measures.

Mandatory mask-wearing in indoor public spaces remains in effect. Masks are also now mandatory within schools affected by the earlier closure.