Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
Town council has raised concerns about gatherings still happening in Hay River despite warnings against that during the COVID-19 crisis.
Deputy Mayor Robert Bouchard raised the issue at the March 30 council meeting, which was happening on the Internet with each council member at home.
Bouchard asked Mayor Kandis Jameson if she had talked to the RCMP about concerns about large gatherings, noting he had heard on social media about people still out and about.
"I believe that there still are concerns," said Jameson. "Obviously, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Sometimes it does become we can't force anyone to do this. We're hoping to educate people enough to realize how serious this thing is."
The mayor said she has discussed the matter with the RCMP, adding that hopefully going forward the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs (MACA) will have a plan on how to deal with the problem.
Coun. Linda Duford brought up the idea of a curfew, noting that has been suggested to her a couple of times in discussions with residents.
"I know we talked about it earlier on in this crisis and that it probably wasn't the best way for us to go right now, but more and more citizens and residents they are seeing primarily groups of teenagers and young adults after dark out and they're getting concerned," said Duford, who added that education and communication with the public is still needed.
Jameson said there have been discussions about a curfew.
"If you bring in a curfew again, it becomes an enforcement issue," she said. "We don't have a bylaw officer at this time. So again, who enforces something like that?"
The town is not quite there yet, the mayor added. "It's definitely on the radar, I guess."
The need to avoid gatherings as a way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has been stressed numerous times by Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer for the NWT.
At an April 1 news conference, Kandola said that bringing people together outside of a person's regular household is one of the quickest ways to spread the coronavirus and hurt communities.
"For those of you who feel invincible, we are receiving reports from the RCMP about crowded houses and apartment parties taking place in communities around the territory," said Kandola. "This is not the time for a party, and if you are organizing them, you're bringing unnecessary danger to your community. If you're young and healthy, you may not even notice that you have the virus, but you can still spread to people who can get really sick – your parents, your grandparents, other members of your community that you know and love. We encourage you to try to create ways to stay close to your friends without being in the same place."
At the meeting of town council, concern was also raised about people in self-isolation in Hay River.
"I guess of note is the enforcement issue that we're facing with some of these people that are supposed to be inside in self-isolation," said Jameson. "We are working through that. We are expecting some answers back from MACA sooner rather than later, but that is a big concern."
Hay River is one of four designated communities where people returning to the NWT are supposed to go to enter into self-isolation for 14 days. The other communities are Yellowknife, Inuvik and Fort Smith.
As of April 1, there were 41 people in self-isolation in Hay River in accommodations provided by the GNWT.