NWT reports three more Covid-19 deaths, bringing total to five
Three more Northwest Territories residents have died after contracting Covid-19, the territory’s chief public health officer said on Monday, bringing the pandemic total to five.
No details related to any of the people who passed away were given, including their ages and communities. All five deaths to date have been directly attributed to Covid-19 by the chief public health officer, Dr Kami Kandola.
Dr Kandola’s office said the three deaths occurred on Friday and Saturday.
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“The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer is saddened by this news. Our office wishes to express our sincere condolences to the families of those who passed away. Our thoughts are with the families and with community members at this time,” read a statement issued by Kandola’s office.
Fort Good Hope Elder Gabriel Kochon, 92, was the first person in the territory to pass away from Covid-19 on August 24.
A second death from Covid-19 was announced by the NWT government on September 20.
Details of those who have passed away are not published by the territorial government and only reported if the families of the deceased elect to come forward.
“I extend my deepest condolences to the families, friends, and communities of the three residents who lost their lives to Covid-19 this weekend. We are here for you as you grieve, and thinking of you during this time of loss,” said Premier Caroline Cochrane in a tweet.
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The chief public health officer’s brief announcement is likely to be followed by a more comprehensive update on the NWT’s current Delta-variant outbreak later on Monday.
That update will set out how the opening weekend of so-called “circuit breaker” restrictions in Yellowknife has fared in helping to contain the city’s outbreak, which stood at 160 active cases of Covid-19 on Friday.
The Northwest Territories has identified almost 800 cases since the current outbreak began in the territory’s Sahtu region in August, moving from a pandemic total of 180 cases on August 14 to 976 cases as of September 24.
On Sunday, Cabin Radio introduced a series of regularly updated charts enabling residents to track how the outbreak is progressing in different NWT communities.
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Meanwhile, the NWT’s health authority is still working to solve a problem with oxygen distribution at Stanton Territorial Hospital, where critically ill Covid-19 patients are sent for intensive care.
On Saturday, the health authority said care of Covid-19 patients had so far not been compromised by the oxygen issue, which relates to the amount of oxygen the hospital is able to provide to high-flow devices that help people to breathe.