The number of rows on the flight to Inuvik that may have been exposed to COVID-19 have been expanded.

The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer said in a statement people in rows 13 to 20  on Canadian North flight number 5T 244 on April 24 between Edmonton and Yellowknife may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should self-isolate.

The other portion of the advisory remains the same. People who were on the Yellowknife to Norman Wells leg of the flight, between rows 7 to 13 or the Norman Wells to Inuvik position between rows 7 to 13, should also self-isolate.

One case in Inuvik was reported.

Infrastructure Minister Diane Archie was on the flight to Inuvik, but has already tested negative for the virus.

“It is an uneasy feeling being told I may have been exposed to COVID-19 and that the virus is in Inuvik, but I take comfort in the fact that the public health orders that are in place have been working for over a year,” Archie said in a statement. 

“I am confident that if we all continue to follow the public health measures we can help decrease the spread of the virus across our territory, and eventually get back to doing the things we love.”

This case brings the number of active COVID-19 cases in the NWT to nine. Six are in Yellowknife, two in Fort Smith and one in Inuvik.

There have been 86 cases of COVID-19 connected to the NWT, including 29 non-resident NWT workers and six NWT residents who contracted the virus outside the territory.

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Update 5:50 p.m.: The number of rows on the flight to Inuvik that may have been exposed to COVID-19 have been expanded.

The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer said in a statement people in rows 13 to 20  on Canadian North flight number 5T 244 on April 24 between Edmonton and Yellowknife may have been exposed to COVID-19 and should self-isolate.

One COVID-19 case, connected to domestic travel, has been reported in Inuvik.

There is no public exposure risk, but there are exposure risks on multiple flights the traveller took on his way to Inuvik.

If you were on Canadian North flight number 5T 244 on any of the legs of the trip, from Edmonton to Yellowknife between rows 14 to 20, or Yellowknife to Norman Wells between rows 7 to 13 or Norman Wells to Inuvik between rows 7 to 13, you should continue to self-isolate, according to the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer.

This case brings the number of active COVID-19 cases in the NWT to nine. Six are in Yellowknife, two in Fort Smith and one in Inuvik.

There have been 86 cases of COVID-19 connected to the NWT, including 29 non-resident NWT workers and six NWT residents who contracted the virus outside the territory.

The outbreak at the Diavik Diamond Mine is also over, since it's been more than two weeks since the last COVID-19 case was reported. Two workers in total were reportedly infected with the B.1.1.7 variant of the COVID-19 virus. There is no exposure risk connected to the mine outbreak.

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All eligible residents in Inuvik and Hay River will now be offered the Moderna vaccine.

Residents 50 years of age and older in Yellowknife can also book their appointments starting today.

Inuvik residents can book their appointment by calling 867-777-7246, Hay River residents by calling 867-874-8400 and Yellowknife residents 50+ by calling 867-767-9120 or booking online.

Julie Green, Minister of Health and Social Services says she looks forward to seeing the NWT get to the position where the vaccine is offered to all eligible residents, in all 33 communities.

To date, close to 20,000 total doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been delivered across the NWT since rollout began on December 31st.

Green says vaccines will be offered to the general population in Yellowknife in the coming weeks.

Residents who missed their first or second dose can book their vaccine in any NWT community and are encouraged to check the vaccine schedule to avoid delays.

The NWT has received 4 shipments of the Moderna vaccine to date with 35,300 doses total. Another 16,300 doses are anticipated to arrive in the final shipment in mid-March.

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Extreme cold warnings have been declared for much of the Northwest Territories overnight as temperatures are set to drop drastically.

The warnings are in effect for Yellowknife, Inuvik, Behchokǫ̀ and a number of other communities.

Temperatures with wind chill will reach between minus 50 and minus 55 Thursday morning.

Wind chills near minus 50 have already developed along the north coast of the Northwest Territories, according to Environment Canada.

“This cold air will move southward overnight,” the federal agency said in a statement. "These extreme cold wind chill values will persist into Friday and may linger into the weekend in some communities.”

Warnings are in place for the Aklavik Region, Colville Lake, Deline, Inuvik, the North Slave region including Wekweèti, Whatì and Behchokǫ̀, Paulatuk, Sachs Harbour, the South Delta region including Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Tuktoyaktuk, Ulukhatok, and the Yellowknife region.

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The GNWT ended 2020 by administering its first round of vaccines at the Aven Manor retirement facility in Yellowknife.

Elderly residents of long-term care facilities and workers employed there were identified by the GNWT as part of the four priority groups who are set to be the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The four groups are elderly people – within which those who live at long-term care facilities are higher priority – front-line workers, people with pre-existing conditions and Indigenous people.

The Health and Social Services Authority administered the Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which landed in the territory on Monday. They were transported to Stanton Hospital in Yellowknife first, with a portion to be sent to the Inuvik pharmacy facility.

A speciality freezer setup to house the vaccines was sent to Stanton as well as Inuvik, with vaccines to be distributed to outlying communities from there.

The GNWT on Monday received their first allotment of the Moderna vaccine – 7,200 doses, which is enough to vaccinate 3,600 people. Despite this, the GNWT still hasn’t released their vaccine distribution plan. 

This is due to a number of factors – the schedule and amount of the vaccine delivery and the logistics of refrigeration – which meant the territorial government couldn’t concretely plan for how vaccines will be distributed, according to Dr. Anne Marie Pegg, NWT’s Territorial Medical Director.

“This is not a regular vaccine rollout, logistics are more complex, they require more planning and thought, and we've been working on logistics for months, and are close to providing the plan to the general public,” said Pegg.

“People need to feel safe, having outside providers come to their communities. And it takes time to have these conversations,” she added.

Pegg added the territorial government has not received an exact date for future deliveries of vaccines, or when vaccines will start being administered elsewhere in the territory outside of Yellowknife and a long-term care facility in Behchokǫ̀.

“We will now be embarking on the most complex vaccine rollout in our history,” Dr. Kami Kandola, NWT’s Chief Public Health Officer, said in a press conference on Wednesday. “But our teams are ready.”

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An individual has been diagnosed with COVID-19 in Inuvik.

The individual was an international traveller and followed appropriate isolation guidance when they arrived, according to a statement from the Dr. Kami Kandola, NWT's Chief Public Health Officer.

They are doing well, and are isolating in their home. The only contacts found during the investigation were household members of the individual. The investigation has identified no risks of exposure in public places.

Kandola added in a statement that residents should celebrate self-isolators. There has been 30,000 self-isolation plans submitted since March.

"There’s no doubt that the requirement to self-isolate is a sacrifice," Kandola said. "It’s not easy. But it is the most important way we can help take control of the risk of COVID-19 outbreaks, and keep our friends, families, and communities safe."

This brings the territory's total of COVID-19 cases to 22, with seven active cases.

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With the installation of an autosampler in Hay River, all the communities set up with waste water testing are operational.

Hay River had additional plumbing maintenance that was needed before the autosampler, a device which tests waste water for traces of the COVID-19 virus’ DNA, could be installed.

“The biggest hurdle that we have overcome is, we have to have additional requirements to insert the autosampler,” Dr. Kami Kandola, the territory’s Chief Public Health Officer, said at a press conference on Thursday. “That was achieved this week, so we can have the samples ready for the holidays, which was our goal.”

Waste water testing has also been implemented in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Fort Simpson and Inuvik — covering around half of the territory’s population, according to a statement from the health department.

“Collecting this information can serve as an early warning system for the territory and help the health and social services system target advice to communities as the pandemic continues.

This is because traces of the virus that causes COVID-19 can be found in waste water several days before symptoms appear.

The equipment was purchased and installed with federal funding, the GNWT receiving $100,000 from Indigenous Services Canada.

“Ultimately, it will better prepare us to respond to outbreaks and monitor our containment efforts,” said Kandola.

Throughout November there were no traces of COVID-19 found by the waste water sampling system, according to Kandola.

She added the CPHO’s office working to develop a dashboard that will display results from the waste water testing.

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The premier will be announcing changes to self-isolation centres Tuesday, after a report was released by the GNWT, finding a majority of residents don’t want to continue paying for self-isolation stays.

In a press conference on Thursday, Premier Caroline Cochrane said an announcement about changes to  would be coming in the next couple of weeks. However, the premier did not include any details.

The government will be holding a press conference tomorrow to announce its plans for its isolation policies.

[caption id="attachment_21800" align="aligncenter" width="750"] Cochrane said the GNWT has been reviewing feedback on its isolation policies, and are planning changes. File photo.[/caption]

The news comes after a report outlined the results of a survey conducted by the territorial government into their running of the self-isolation centres.

Eleven Indigenous governments, 21 communities, and the territory’s Business Advisory Council took part in feedback sessions in late October and early November.

A majority of the respondents — the feedback was provided in the form of a pie chart with no specific numbers attached — were against the GNWT continuing to pay for the entirety of people’s self-isolation stays. A smaller portion of the respondents were against paying for people’s self-isolation stays, with some considerations, like the person’s financial status or if the travel was for medical reasons.

The smallest portion of respondents were in favour of continuing to pay for people’s self-isolation stays.

Currently, most people entering the territory must isolate for 14 days in one of the isolation hubs, in either Yellowknife, Hay River, Fort Smith, or Inuvik. 

Those who live outside of those four communities must isolate at a government-run centre in one of those four hubs. Only after the 14 days can they return home to their community.

The territorial government has established isolation centres in the hub communities, and been covering the costs of booking out rooms in hotels in the four communities, like the Chateau Nova and the Explorer Hotel in Yellowknife. Running these self-isolation centres makes up 54 per cent of the territory’s budget for the COVID-19 Secretariat, a new government department tasked with coordinating the GNWT’s response to the pandemic.

The majority of people in the feedback report released by the GNWT were in favour of cutting costs by looking at who will have their self-isolation paid for.

The high cost of running self-isolation centres had been previously flagged by several MLA’s at the Legislative Assembly. Finance minister Caroline Wawzonek responded at the time that cutting money from the self-isolation centres could create inequity for some travellers.

Impacts to mental health were another area of concern flagged in the feedback report. Similar concerns had been voiced by Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Steve Norn, who said some elders have told him spending time in isolation centres feels “like residential school all over again,” in the legislative assembly.

“We have to find a balance between keeping people safe, providing support, and then of course, being accountable to the taxpayers for the money that we're spending,” said Cochrane on Thursday.

But isolating in smaller communities would have challenges. Concerns about smaller communities' ability to enforce self-isolation, and ensure people are following the COVID-19 guidelines were also raised.

“A lack of these services in smaller communities underscored many reasons for concern and/or making the decision to not allow self-isolation in smaller communities,” the report read.

An announcement about changes to the territory’s isolation policy will be happening at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

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Update 3:15 p.m. October 28 – The COVID-19 case in Inuvik which was a presumptive positive has been confirmed, according to the Chief Public Health Officer.

Dr. Kami Kandola confirmed on Wednesday that secondary testing done at Stanton Hospital in Yellowknife had returned a positive result, meaning the Inuvik case is the tenth in the territory and the fifth in the past few weeks.

A new presumptive positive case of COVID-19 has been reported in Inuvik, a few hours after the case had been mistakenly confirmed by the GNWT.

In a statement released just after 2:20 p.m. on Tuesday the Inuvik case was reported confirmed, but the statement was then removed from the Department of Health and Social Services’ website 20 minutes later.

In the statement, the GNWT said they “deeply apologize for the error.”

“It was distributed after being prepared in anticipation of an imminent confirmatory result, and an internal communication breakdown resulted in it being approved for distribution,” read the statement.

The case is connected to the earlier Inuvik COVID-19 case. This case is therefore related to travel, according to the statement from the Department of Health and Social Services.

The statement adds, there is no risk to the public as the individual has been self-isolating appropriately since returning from travel.

The individual is being monitored by public health officials and is doing fine, the statement adds.

This would have been the tenth COVID-19 case in the territory if it had been confirmed and the fifth to have been reported in the past few weeks, after the Northwest Territories had gone almost six months without a case of COVID-19.

Results are now being confirmed at the Stanton Hospital laboratory, as the GNWT’s rapid testing machines have now been validated, and can confirm COVID-19 test results without being sent to a laboratory in Alberta.

That is why the most recently confirmed case at Gahcho Kué mine were confirmed without being deemed a presumptive positive first, according to Mike Westwick, spokesperson for the GNWT’s response to COVID-19.

This presumptive positive COVID-19 case out of Inuvik will also be tested at the laboratory in Stanton Hospital to confirm the results.

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The presumptive COVID-19 case in Inuvik has been confirmed, according to a release sent out on Tuesday by the Department of Health and Social Services.

The two presumptive cases in Yellowknife are yet to be confirmed, because results are “are still pending from our partner lab in Alberta.”

The contact tracing investigation into the Inuvik has been completed. It found there were no risks of exposure along the route the driver from Alberta took, or within Inuvik.

The individual is recovering, safely at home.

Contact tracing is ongoing for the two Yellowknife cases. The process involves communicating with infected people about their location and determining if there is any risk of exposure, explained Deputy Chief Public Health Officer -- Dr. Andy Delli-Pizzi in a press conference on Friday.

Exposure risks were found at two locations in Yellowknife, at the Anytime Fitness on October 12 between 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.and the Yellowknife RCMP detachment on October 13 between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.

The Inuvik case, now it has been confirmed, missing that will be the first confirmed positive COVID-19 case in NT since April. If the two Yellowknife cases are confirmed, the total number of cases for the territory would be eight.

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