There has been one more death from Covid-19 in the Northwest Territories as the latest Covid-19 outbreak continues to fester in the Beaufort Delta.
The official weekly tally, which includes Covid-19 at-home tests which do not require a doctor to follow-up, is considerably higher, listing a total of 99 cases in the Beaufort Delta. The Monday community tally states there are 59 active cases in Aklavik, Nine in Fort McPherson, 25 in Inuvik and six in Tuktoyaktuk.
Unofficial numbers of hospital and health care treated cases obtained by the Inuvik Drum indicate there are 30 active cases in Aklavik, with one new cases since Friday. Four new cases have been reported at the Fort McPherson health centre, bringing the community total to 11. Inuvik has one new case, bringing the total to 12 Covid-19 cases. No cases have been reported from the health centres of Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour or Ulukhaktok, and there are no active cases in Tsiigehtchic or Tuktoyaktuk anymore. The unofficial total of cases in the Beaufort Delta is 53.
These numbers are used by government officials to keep a gauge of the rate of spread and have not been certified by the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer.
The internal numbers are based on tests completed at Inuvik Public Health and Community Health Centres. They do not include home Rapid Antigen tests — those are reported to Protect NWT and typically do not involve clinical follow-up.
Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kami Kandola told Inuvik Drum the internally distributed daily counts are intended for government-use only and have not been validated by her staff — meaning exact numbers of cases may not match official counts 100 per cent.
“Everyday we provide regional updates, so in the Beaufort Delta you’ll know every day what the numbers are,” she said. “The regional Chief Operation Officers are communicating with governments on a regular basis to let them know what the numbers are, but these numbers need to be validated and that takes time.
“That requires validation, it requires removing duplicates, it requires a level of effort that can’t be sustained on a daily basis, because I need those staff to actually focus on outbreak response.”
She added when the GNWT identifies a public health risk, the location and time of exposure is published immediately.
Health Minister Julie Green said the internal numbers are provided to governments at their request and should be considered unofficial counts.
“There is no loss of service to the public in not providing the updates more often,” she said. “The important indicator for Omicron is hospitalization. I would encourage people to also focus on that metric as an indicator of what’s going on.”
Green encouraged residents to check the Public Exposure site frequently, as it is updated on a daily basis as cases arise.
Several exposure notices have been posted over the last week.
Inuvik Warming Centre has been listed as a Covid-19 exposure site. Anyone who was at the Shelter on Reliance St. from 6 p.m. to midnight on Jan. 11 to 13 should self monitor for symptoms, regardless of vaccination status.
Anyone who was at Stanton’s on Jan. 10 to 13 from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., or on Jan. 14 from 10 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. is asked to self-monitor for symptoms, regardless of vaccine status. If symptoms develop, they are asked to isolate immediately and seek testing. Anyone who is not fully vaccinated should get tested on the fourth day of their limited contact period whether experiencing symptoms or not.
These are in addition to Public exposure notices for Stanton’s Grocery Store in both Tuktoyaktuk and Aklavik — anyone who was in the Tuktoyaktuk location on Jan. 4 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Jan. 5 from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. should self monitor for symptoms. If symptoms develop, they should isolate immediately and arrange testing. All non-fully vaccinated persons should arrange testing on day four regardless of symptoms.
Anyone who was at the Aklavik location on Jan. 8 from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. or 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. should self monitor for symptoms. If symptoms develop, they should isolate immediately and arrange testing. All non-fully vaccinated persons should arrange testing on day four regardless of symptoms.
The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer announced today it will no longer publish exposures on Air Canada and Westjet flights into Yellowknife. Anyone flying into Yellowknife will now be expected to follow the “Know what to do for 72” guidelines published on the GNWT’s website.