The Northwest Territories government issued public exposure notices for several locations in Délı̨nę, Fort Good Hope, and Yellowknife on Monday night as the number of positive Covid-19 cases rises.
In an update, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer announced there are now a total of 31 confirmed cases and six probable cases of Covid-19 connected to the initial cases identified in the Sahtu over the weekend. Public health officials say a hand games tournament that took place in Fort Good Hope from August 5 to 9 was a superspreader event.
In Fort Good Hope there are now 21 confirmed cases and one probable case of Covid-19, two confirmed and two probable cases in Colville Lake, one confirmed case in Délı̨nę, six confirmed cases and one probable case in Yellowknife, two probable cases in Norman Wells, and one confirmed case in Inuvik.
There is also one confirmed case each in out-of-territory workers in Norman Wells and Hay River and a positive case in a Yellowknife resident that are unrelated to the cluster.
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In Délı̨nę, anyone who is unvaccinated or only partially vaccinated that attended a hand games event or spiritual gathering at the community culture centre on August 14 is required to isolate for 10 days and get tested for Covid-19. Anyone who is fully vaccinated who attended either event is advised to self-monitor for 10 days, wear a mask in public, and to self-isolate immediately and get tested if they develop symptoms.
Anyone who attended the handgames tournament in Fort Good Hope who is partially or unvaccinated is required to self-isolate for 10 days and get tested. Those who attended the event and are fully vaccinated are advised to self-monitor for 10 days.
In Yellowknife, anyone who attended the Arctic Indigenous Wellness Camp between August 8 and 13 is required to self-isolate for 10 days from the date that they were exposed and to get tested regardless of their vaccination status.
For other exposure notices in the city, those affected are advised to self-monitor, wear a mask in public spaces, and to self-isolate and arrange for testing if they develop symptoms. The locations and dates of exposure in Yellowknife are:
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- Walmart on August 8 from 1:00 to 3:00pm, August 9 from 2:30-3:00pm, and August 11 at 3:00pm
- Bingo on August 9 from 4:00 to 9:00pm
- KFC on August 10 at 11:00am, and August 11 at 1:00pm
- Tim Hortons on Old Airport Road on August 10 at 11:00am, and August 11 at 1:00pm and 2:00pm
- Adam Dental Clinic on August 10 at 2:30pm
- Bingo at the Tree of Peace Friendship Centre on August 10 to 14 from 4:00 to 9:00pm
- The Black Knight on August 10 from 10:00pm to midnight, August 13 from 9:00pm to 2:00am, and August 14 all night
- Overlander Sports on August 11 at 1:00pm
- Canadian Tire on August 11 at 2:00pm
- Mark’s Work Warehouse on August 11 at 2:00pm
- Card Game Place at Abdul’s location on August 12 to 14 from 9:00 to 11:30pm
- Rochdi’s Independent Grocer on Old Airport Road on August 13 from 5:00 to 5:30pm, and 6:00 to 7:00pm
- Boston Pizza on the family side on August 14 from 5:00 to 7:00pm
The locations without an end time listed mean the potential exposure window is a “brief duration of undetermined time.”
Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake are currently under a containment order which prohibits gatherings, requires the closure of businesses, schools and community centres, mask wearing in indoor public spaces, and restricted capacity at essential services.
Rapid response teams are currently in both communities to assist with contact tracing and targeted testing to identify any exposure to and cases of Covid-19. Non-essential travel in and out of the communities is strongly discouraged.
Anyone in the territory with symptoms of Covid-19 is advised to get tested and the chief public health officer recommends wearing masks in all indoor public places.
As of August 14, 74 percent of the territory’s population over the age of 18 years was fully vaccinated while 78 percent were partially vaccinated. Meanwhile, 73 percent of the population over the age of 12 years were partially vaccinated.
Correction: August 17, 2021 – 8:37 MT. This report initially gave the date of the exposure notification for Rochdi’s Independent Grocer as August 14. The notification was in fact issued for August 13. The article has been updated to reflect this.
Correction: August 17, 2021 – 12:16 MT. An earlier version of this report suggested there were 30 confirmed cases of Covid-19 as of Monday evening. There were in fact 31.
