More flights are exposure sites as NWT braces for Omicron rush

Three more Yellowknife-bound flights were the subject of exposure warnings issued on Christmas Day as the NWT strove to minimize an expected holiday surge in Omicron-variant Covid-19 cases.

Air Canada flights numbered 8457 from Calgary to Yellowknife on both December 20 and December 23, each departing at 8:10pm, were added to the territory’s exposure list.

Only certain rows are affected – see the GNWT list for details and for instructions based on vaccination status.

WestJet flight 3359, an 11:15am departure from Calgary to Yellowknife on December 22, is also listed.

In the past week or so, no fewer than 11 flights have been declared exposure sites by the NWT government.

The territory’s chief public health officer, Dr Kami Kandola, has said she believes there are already multiple cases of the fast-spreading new Omicron variant in the territory, though only one has been formally confirmed.

Dr Kandola has urged people to take extreme care in their first three days after entering the NWT following travel elsewhere.

Four new exposure sites in Yellowknife were listed in Saturday’s update:

• the Black Knight Pub on Thursday, December 23 from 1pm till 2pm;
• the DMV on December 23 from 11am till 11:30am;
• Centre Square Mall’s vaccine clinic on Tuesday, December 21 from 5pm till 5:30pm; and
• Rochdi’s Independent on Saturday, December 18 from 11:30am till 12:30pm.

As of Christmas Eve, there were 31 active Covid-19 cases in the NWT – 27 in Yellowknife and four in the Beaufort Delta.