NWT adds seven Covid-19 cases, containment for Norman Wells

The NWT reported seven new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday evening, taking the total number of active cases to 226.

Seven is the smallest daily increase reported by the territory since the current outbreak, centred on the Sahtu region, began.

There were four new cases in Norman Wells, two in Fort Providence, and one in Fort Smith.

Norman Wells will now head into 10-day containment starting on Wednesday morning, the NWT government said, as Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake did earlier.

There were no new cases reported in either of those two communities on Tuesday, nor in Yellowknife.

Fewer than five people are in hospital, the territory said.

The evening announcement concluded a day on which the territory’s chief public health officer confirmed the NWT’s first death from Covid-19. Gabe Kochon, 92, passed away late on Monday.

There were also three exposure advisories for Hay River.

Anyone who was at Ring’s Pharmacy on August 20 from 2:15pm to 2:45pm, the Super A Foods grocery store on August 20 from 11am to 11:45am and 1pm to 1:45pm, or the BBQ at 2 Seasons Adventures campground on August 21 from 7pm to 8pm should follow public health’s instructions.

Meanwhile, the Kátł’odeeche First Nation declared an emergency over “potential Covid-19 exposures” in the community and asked people to isolate under certain circumstances.

There was, at least, some movement in the NWT’s vaccination rate, which reached 75-percent full vaccination for the territory’s adults.

Reaching that milestone is an important step toward lifting some of the final remaining travel restrictions, though case numbers Canada-wide must now decrease again after the fourth wave before any further reopening occurs.