Daily Update - September 29, 2021

News Type: 
Past COVID-19 Advisories

YELLOWKNIFE September 29, 2021 – The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) is revising the Public Health Order – COVID-19 Gathering Order – Yellowknife, Ndilǫ and Dettah (effective September 24, 2021).  This amended order will come into effect at 11:59PM tonight, September 29, 2021 and will be extended to 11:59PM on October 11, 2021. 

The order current contains the following restrictions:

  • Outdoor gatherings limited to 25 people.
  • Indoor gatherings and business are limited to 10 people indoors.  Exceptions are provided for essential businesses and facilities.  For more information please see the Containment Gathering Order FAQ. 
  • Schools, colleges and trade schools are required to remain closed to in person learning for the duration of the order.

The revised order will come into effect at 11:59PM tonight and now includes the following restrictions:

  • Households are no longer allowed to host visitors indoors. 
  • Only the members within their household are allowed to gather indoors with the following exceptions:
    • Single member households can bubble with one additional household;
    • Caregiver providing care to an individual (for example: check-ins on elderly, individuals with disabilities, etc.);
    • Regularly scheduled childcare arrangements and respite needs;
    • Persons responding to emergencies, including but not limited to medical emergencies, police emergencies and urgent home repairs (for example: flooding, electrical work, fire, etc.)
    • Previously approved family reunification

Persons may direct inquiries about public health orders to ProtectNWT at protectNWT@gov.nt.ca or 1-833-378-8297.  Copies of all the current Public Health Orders can be found on our website.

The Chief Public Health Officer (CPHO) recognizes that this order will be in place over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  This will be difficult for some families but northerners are still encouraged to gather safely through virtual means with their loved ones this Thanksgiving season.  Your collective sacrifice is seen, it is appreciated and we will get through this together. 

To protect privacy the CPHO will not comment on vaccine status less than 10 COVID-19 deaths in the NWT.  CPHO hopes that we do not reach this threshold.  Across Canada data, provided by the Public Health Agency of Canada on September 11, show that:

  • 80.2% of Canadian deaths are in unvaccinated individuals
  • 8.4% are in individuals not yet protected
  • 7.7% are in partially vaccinated individuals
  • 3.7% of deaths were in fully vaccinated individuals

The Public Health Order – COVID-19 ISOLATION ORDER – YELLOWKNIFE, N’DILO AND DETTAH (effective September 13, 2021) currently in effect for Dettah, Ndilǫ and Yellowknife has been amended to require all persons in the Northwest Territories who have tested positive for COVID-19 to immediately isolate in accordance with the order for a period of 10 days which begins at the time they receive a positive test result for COVID-19. This will come into effect at 11:59pm tonight, September 29, 2021.

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  There is no plan to distribute a Public Health Advisory tomorrow unless an urgent need is identified.  The next scheduled PHA will be distributed on October 1. 

The OCPHO is declaring a COVID-19 outbreak at a Tłı̨chǫ All Season Road (TSAR) work camp.  The OCPHO defines an outbreak as evidence of transmission of COVID-19 at the work camp.  The individuals that tested positive are safely isolating and any impacted workers are being monitored for signs and symptoms of COVID-19.  The OCPHO is working closely with the site management to monitor the situation.  There is no additional risk to the public identified at this time. 

The OCPHO is announcing 45 new cases of COVID-19 in the NWT since September 28. The total number of recent cases has increased to 941. There are 283 active cases among residents in the NWT plus four active out-of-territory cases. Of the remaining cases, 648 NWT residents and 12 out-of-territory cases have recovered, and there have been six deaths.  Three cases have been removed from the case numbers as they were determined through follow up testing and investigation to not be cases. 

Community Breakdown

Region

Community

Active

Total

Beaufort Delta

Inuvik

  

3

Dehcho

Fort Liard

  

1

Fort Providence

  

4

Fort Simpson

1

3

North Slave

Łutsel Kʼe

  

3

Dettah, Ndilǫ and Yellowknife

172

436

Sahtu

Colville Lake

  

79

Deline

3

21

Fort Good Hope

  

114

Norman Wells

  

53

Tulita

  

9

South Slave

Fort Smith

2

3

Hay River and K'atl'odeeche First Nation

8

16

Tłı̨chǫ 

Behchokǫ̀      

91

147

Gamètì         

  

3

Whatì          

4

33

Industry

Diavik

2

3

Ekati

2

4

Gahcho Kué Mine

  

1

Imperial Oil

  

1

Snare Lake Hydro

  

2

Tłı̨chǫ All Season Road

2

2

TOTAL

287

941
  • The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths in the NWT is six.
  • The cumulative number of hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic is 33, of which 29 are associated with the current territorial COVID-19 Delta variant outbreak.
  • 70% of the total hospitalized cases were not fully vaccinated.
  • Cumulative ICU admissions is 12, of which 92% were unvaccinated.

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

New Public Health Exposure Locations for Sept 29, 2021

Location

Date(s)/Time Range(s)

Required Action(s)

Community of Behchokǫ̀      

Anyone that has visited the community.

September 15 – today

Inclusive

Fully vaccinated: Self monitor. If symptoms develop, immediately isolate, and arrange testing.

Partially/unvaccinated: Requires a COVID-19 test and individual must isolate until a negative result is received.

The Woodyard

September 17 and 18

6:00PM to Close

Fully and not fully vaccinated individuals who were at this location should self-monitor for symptoms. Isolate and get tested if symptoms develop.

Gold Range Bistro

September 20, 21, 22, 23

Inclusive

7:00AM – 8:00AM

Fully and not fully vaccinated individuals who were at this location should self-monitor for symptoms. Isolate and get tested if symptoms develop.

Kilt and Kastle

September 23

3:30PM – 5:00PM

September 24

4:00PM – 5:00PM

Fully and not fully vaccinated individuals who were at this location should self-monitor for symptoms. Isolate and get tested if symptoms develop.

Birchwood Coffee Kǫ̀

September 24, 28

8:00AM – 4:00PM

Fully and not fully vaccinated individuals who were at this location should self-monitor for symptoms. Isolate and get tested if symptoms develop.

Community transmission is occurring in Behchokǫ̀ and the numbers make it extremely difficult accurately complete effective contact tracing.  The OCPHO is strongly recommending that anyone that have visited the community of Behchokǫ̀ in the past two weeks to isolate of self-monitor as stated above. 

Visit our website for a list of all current exposure notifications.

Attribution

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

Relevant links

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