NWT reports 326 active Covid-19 cases, 197 in Yellowknife

There are now 326 active Covid-19 cases being reported in the Northwest Territories, an increase of 166 since Friday, the territory’s online dashboard states.

In all, 193 new cases were reported since Friday, in line with the estimate of 200 Dr Kami Kandola, the territory’s chief public health officer, gave to reporters earlier on Tuesday.

Twenty-seven people were reported to have recovered since Friday.

There are no people currently hospitalized with Covid-19 in the NWT, Dr Kandola said earlier.

Even so, the NWT on Tuesday tightened gathering restrictions and suspended some indoor activities until at least January 22 as the number of Covid-19 cases rose.

“These precautions will help reduce the strain on our healthcare system and avoid longer-term disruption,” health minister Julie Green said.

A region defined by the NWT government as “Yellowknife” reported 199 active cases on Tuesday.

However, a community-by-community breakdown of active cases, updated for the first time since before Christmas, clarified that 197 of the cases are in Yellowknife, Ndilǫ, and Dettah, up from 132 on Friday. Two are in Łútsël K’é.

What’s the difference between new cases and active cases?
New cases are cases being reported for the first time today.
Active cases are cases reported either today or earlier that haven’t yet ended.

The Beaufort Delta rose from four to 50 active cases. Of those, 29 are in Aklavik, 13 in Inuvik, five in Fort McPherson, two in Tuktoyaktuk, and one in Tsiigehtchic.

The cases in Aklavik and Tsiigehtchic are the first to be confirmed by the NWT government in those communities since the pandemic began.

The Tłı̨chǫ region moved to 28 cases, up from 10 on Friday. Twenty-one were in Behchokǫ̀ and seven in Whatì.

The Dehcho moved from three to 24 active cases. Twenty-two are in Fort Providence and two in Fort Simpson.

In the South Slave, Fort Smith moved from eight to 13 cases and Hay River from one to seven.

The Sahtu has five active cases, up from two on Friday. Two are in Norman Wells, two in Délı̨nę, and one in Fort Good Hope.

Overall, the territory said, there had been 243 newly recorded NWT cases in the past seven days.

The GNWT’s exposure notifications webpage added more flights on Tuesday. Among them were Air Tindi’s Monday, January 3 flight 242 from Yellowknife to Hay River, Canadian North’s Sunday, January 2 flight 244 from Edmonton to Inuvik, and Air North’s New Year’s Day flight 335 from Whitehorse to Inuvik.

Yellowknife’s Gold Range bar was listed as an exposure site from 11:20pm on New Year’s Eve until 2am on New Year’s Day, as was Northern Fancy Meats for the period between 9am and 6pm on Wednesday, December 29.