YELLOWKNIFE September 11, 2021 – The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer (OCPHO) was notified of 10 people with probable or confirmed COVID-19 in the community of Whatı̀ in the last 24 hours. At the moment there are more than 40 known contacts.

The rapid increase in the number of infections indicates that Whatì is the early stages of community transmission. The Chief Public Health Officer is issuing a 14-day containment order that goes into effect September 11 at 11:59PM. The order will require the closure of non-essential businesses and transitioning to remote learning for schools in Whatı̀. Additional restrictions will be placed on indoor or outdoor gatherings to include only household members. Essential services will remain open with limitations in place.

Transmission likely occurred at a community BBQ on September 6, 2021. Anyone who attended the community barbeque is a contact of COVID-19.

Masking in indoor public spaces is mandatory. Anyone experiencing any symptoms of COVID should isolate and call the health centre for additional guidance.

Non-essential travel in and out of Whatı̀ is not recommended at this time. Anyone who is not fully vaccinated (having received their second dose of the vaccine on or before August 23) and traveled from Whatı̀ to another NWT community since September 6, 2021 must isolate at their destination and notify the local public health team or health centre.

Full details on the order will be released as soon as possible and will be available on the GNWT COVID-19 website under the Current Public Health Orders: https://www.gov.nt.ca/covid-19/en/current-public-health-orders.

The OCPHO is working closely with the Tłı̨chǫ Government, the Tłı̨chǫ Community Services Agency (TCSA) and the COVID Secretariat on the response to the increased COVID-19 activity. 

Essential workers in Whatı̀ should follow all public health measures currently in place as they continue attending work. Non-essential workers and other residents should plan on not attending work or in-person schooling from September 13, 2021 until the order is either lifted or expires.

The CPHO would like to remind all residents that the most important thing they can do to protect themselves from severe outcomes from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated. All residents 12 years of age and older who have not yet received two doses of the vaccination should make arrangements to get fully vaccinated.

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
• GWNT 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
[email protected]