Minister of Health and Social Services, Julie Green has extended the territory-wide Public Health Emergency under the NWT’s Public Health Act on the advice of Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kami Kandola. The latest extension continues through October 13th.
Green notes that with record levels of COVID-19 transmission being reported in neighboring jurisdictions, the risk to the NWT is increased and that the extension of the Public Health Emergency is necessary in order to respond decisively to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The GNWT is reminding everyone that travel within the NWT remains restricted upon arrival with limited exceptions. It is an offense to travel within the NWT without an exemption under the Public Health Orders.
Everyone entering the NWT is required to self-isolate for 14 days in Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River or Fort Smith with few exceptions – no matter how long your trip out of the territory is.
The GNWT also gave not of some recent COVID-19 NWT updates:
- Rapid testing expansion has resulted in considerable improvement in testing return times. Work is continuing on increasing capacity further over the coming weeks.
- Equipment required for a full-scale-up of wastewater surveillance for roughly half the NWT’s population is expected to arrive in the coming week-and-a-half. Installation and ramp-up will begin shortly after.
Correction Note: An earlier version of this story quoted an error in the press release from GNWT that said the public health emergency was extended to Oct. 10, when it has been extended to Oct. 13.
