There have been 59 new recorded cases of Covid-19 in the NWT since Friday, bringing the active caseload to 178.
Most of the active cases are now in the North Slave, where Yellowknife has 117 cases, Behchokǫ̀ has 22, and Whatì 14.
There are eight cases in Fort Good Hope, five each in Colville Lake and Délı̨nę, two between Hay River and the Kátł’odeeche First Nation, and one case each in Inuvik, Fort Smith, Fort Providence, Fort Liard, and Łútsël K’é.
There have now been 19 hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic, 16 of which are connected to the current Delta variant outbreak. There have been a total of seven intensive care unit admissions.
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Of the active cases, 175 of the 178 are in NWT residents, while the others are out-of-territory cases.
Since the start of this current outbreak, there have been 523 cases and one death.
The territorial government is recommending people travelling within the NWT from places with community transmission, like Yellowknife and Behchokǫ̀, get tested on day one and day eight at their destination.
In Norman Wells, a local containment order will expire on Tuesday at midnight and will not be renewed.
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The growing outbreak has led to stronger Covid-19 measures in Yellowknife, Dettah, and Ndilǫ.
On Monday afternoon, Chief Public Health Officer Dr Kami Kandola’s office announced schools in the three communities would be closed until at least September 24.
The move to online learning comes as the number of new infections means public health staff are no longer “able to complete testing and contact tracing in a timely fashion that would reliably prevent further transmission at schools.”
Later in the day, the NWT also issued a new public health order for residents of Yellowknife, Ndilǫ, and Dettah to “immediately isolate themselves from other persons in accordance with the isolation requirements” if they test positive for Covid-19.
Until now, public health orders have mandated self-isolation after travel out of the territory and self-isolation if a person has Covid-19 symptoms, but this new order for some North Slave communities clarifies isolation requirements for positive cases.
People who don’t isolate properly after a positive Covid-19 test can be fined up to $10,000, jailed for six months, or both.
