GNT: Daily Update – September 20, 2021

YELLOWKNIFE September 20, 2021 – Today, the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) learned of a death of an NWT resident from COVID-19.  This is the second NWT resident who died from COVID-19.  As Chief Public Health Officer, I wish to express my condolences to the family, friends, and community of the deceased for their loss.

OCPHO would like to remind residents and travellers entering the NWT of specific requirements for testing.  Travellers that are entering the NWT are required to complete a day 1 and day 8 test in the following situations:

• Traveller is proceeding to a small community
• Traveller works or volunteers in a high risk setting such as health care, corrections, long term care and supported living environments, shelters or educational institutions or provides services to an unvaccinated group where physical distancing is difficult.

The OCPHO is announcing 62 new cases of COVID-19 in the NWT since September 17. The total number of recent cases has increased to 685. There are 227 active cases among residents in the territory plus four active out-of-territory cases. A total of 452 cases have resolved – 444 NWT residents and eight out-of-territory cases and two deaths.

Community Breakdown

Region	Community	Total Active Case Count	Recovered Case Count (Deaths)	Total Case Count
Sahtu	Fort Good Hope	3	110 (1)	114
	Colville Lake	0	79	79
	Deline	1	18	19
	Norman Wells	1	52	53
	Tulita	0	9	9
Beaufort Delta	Inuvik	1	2	3
Fort Smith	Fort Smith	0	1	1
Tlicho	Gameti	0	3	3
	Behchokǫ̀	47	16	63
	Whati	31	0	31
South Slave	Hay River & K’atl’odeeche First Nation	9	4	13
Yellowknife/North Slave	Dettah, Ndilǫ, Yellowknife	132	147	279
	Łutsel Kʼe	1	2	3
	Fort Resolution	1	0	1
Dehcho	Fort Providence	0	4	4
	Fort Simpson	0	2	2
	Fort Liard	1	0	1
Worksites	Gahcho Kué Mine	1	0	1
	Diavik Diamond Mine	0	1	1
	Ekati Diamond Mine	0	2	2
	Snare Hydro System worksite	2	0	2
	Imperial Oil	0	1	1
TOTAL		231	452 (2*)	685

*Name of community of recent death not yet officially released.

The cumulative number of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic is 26, of which 22 are associated with the current territorial COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak. 77% of the total hospitalized cases were not fully vaccinated. Cumulative ICU admissions have been 9.

Check the NWT COVID-19 Dashboard for further details about percentage of unvaccinated cases and Variant of Concern updates.(link is external)

New Public Health Exposure Locations for Sept 20, 2021

Hay River

Exposure Location	Date(s)/Time Range(s)	Required Action(s)
Chase the Ace – The Legion Hay River	September 17 7:30PM – 9:30PM	Fully and not fully vaccinated individuals who were at this location should self-monitor for symptoms. Isolate and get tested if symptoms develop.
Dog House Sports Pub	September 17 9:45PM – 11:00PM

Communities that are currently experiencing community transmission: Yellowknife, Behchokǫ̀, and Whatì.

• Any public place could result in an exposure to COVID-19.  The OCPHO will not provide routine public exposure notifications in these communities but will list high risk public exposures requiring further action.
• OCPHO will continue to list public exposures in communities without known community transmission.

The CPHO advises against non-essential travel to and from Behchokǫ̀, Dettah, N’Dilo, Whatì and Yellowknife at this time to protect against transmission to other communities.

Visit our website for a full list of all CURRENT public exposure notifications.

Click here to view ALL current Public Health Orders

Additional Recommendations/Advice

It is important that all northerners, regardless of their vaccination status, adhere to the advice to stay home if you are sick.  Approximately 30% of the current infections occur in fully vaccinated northerners, likely due to prolonged, high-intensity exposures to those with COVID-19 in environments such as homes, shelters, and health facilities.  The vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect yourself from severe health outcomes should you become infected with COVID-19.  Vaccines keep people out of hospitals.

Continue to monitor yourself for any signs and symptoms of COVID-19 and stay home if you are sick or feel even just a little unwell.

COVID continues to travel across our borders regularly. If you travelled or are planning to travel outside of the NWT and have returned home please keep in mind that there are self-isolation requirements for any unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travelers that return to the NWT.  Visit our website to review the types of isolation and what the requirements are for the various types.

Not fully vaccinated or unvaccinated travellers arriving or returning to the NWT are required to self-isolate in a hub community (Fort Smith, Hay River, Inuvik or Yellowknife) for a minimum of 8 -10 days. Residents of Fort Simpson and Norman Wells can self-isolate directly in their communities.  Please visit our website to learn more about self-isolation requirements for travellers entering the NWT.

If you are travelling internally within the NWT from an area with community transmission (Yellowknife, Behchokǫ̀, and Whatì) to another community it is recommended that you complete Day 1 and Day 8 testing at your destination.  Please contact the health centre of the community you are arriving into, prior to leaving, to arrange testing.  Click here for information on how to arrange testing.

The CPHO recommends that where possible businesses accommodate work from home arrangements for their employees for the duration of the amended September 9, 2021 order restricting gatherings.

Attribution

All commentary is attributable to Dr. Kami Kandola, Chief Public Health Officer for the Northwest Territories.

Relevant links

• NWT COVID-19 Dashboard(link is external)
• GNWT Daily COVID-19 Symptom Check
• Travel Hotspots
• Delta Variant FAQs
• GNWT COVID-19 website
• Vaccination Bookings(link is external)

Media Contact

Richard Makohoniuk
Manager, COVID Communications
COVID-19 Coordinating Secretariat
Department of Health and Social Services
Government of the Northwest Territories
richard_makohoniuk@gov.nt.ca(link sends e-mail)

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