As Fort Good Hope is besieged by COVID-19 cases, Chief Tommy Kakfwi offered an encouraging message on Aug. 18.
“We do have a command post with an awesome crew to implement some of the tasks here in town to bring comfort to those that are restricted and isolated to their homes,” he said. “So we provide home delivery, we have food being delivered to them and medical staff, even though they’re short staffed, they are available to accommodate the emergencies as they arise.”
The community of close to 500 residents had 64 confirmed cases of the virus as of Aug. 18, with most of the infected individuals being symptomatic, according to the chief.
At the time Kakfwi made his statements, 262 COVID-19 rapid tests had been conducted locally.
“We’ve been put on priority list to confirm those tests,” he said, noting that the results come from Stanton Territorial Hospital in Yellowknife.
Kakfwi was optimistic that his community could conquer the viral outbreak.
“If everybody continues to cooperate the way they’re doing right now — that’s every individual in the community — and the work carries on smoothly, we can overcome all this and see the light of day by, I’m saying a couple of weeks,” he predicted. “That’s my projection, based on the awesome performance of everybody that’s here in the community and the cooperation we’re getting.”