The GNWT has introduced new self-isolation rules for travellers, including more relaxed requirements for children.
Self-isolation requirements will now be determined by the Covid-19 vaccination status of the traveller. Previously, these requirements were based on the vaccination status of the least-vaccinated household member.
Children who received their first vaccine dose between two and eight weeks before arrival in the NWT no longer have to self-isolate. However, they will have to be tested on the day they arrive and on their eighth day in the territory.
Infants six months old or younger can follow the same requirements as their parents, so long as they were born to fully-vaccinated parents.
There are also new requirements for people travelling to smaller communities — those other than Yellowknife, Hay River, Inuvik, and Fort Smith, Fort Simpson or Norman Wells — those working with vulnerable populations or those environments considered high-risk; and for people travelling from outside of Canada.
In a statement, chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola said the restrictions “will allow more freedoms for children who have travelled while also protecting others in vulnerable settings, therefore maintaining public safety with the least amount of necessary public health restrictions.”
As of Friday, 44 per cent of children aged 5-11 had received a first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, and 76 per cent of residents five years of age and older were fully vaccinated.
“I am pleased that this new public health order will make life easier for NWT residents, particularly families with young children, when they return to the territory after travel,” Health Minister Julie Green said. “There is a risk of travellers bringing the omicron variant with them to the NWT but testing and isolation will assist us with early detection and management. Of course the best defence against omicron and all Covid-19 variants is vaccination.”
Green said residents should check the Northwest Territories Health and Social Services Authority website, www.nthssa.ca, to book a vaccine appointment.