Tests have come back confirming a person in Inuvik who returned via the Dempster Highway developed symptoms of Covid-19 after self-isolating.
An Oct. 20 press release noted the individual is recovering safely at home and a contact investigation was completed over the weekend. No communities along the route have been identified as at risk and no risk has been identified to Inuvik.
Deputy chief public health officer Dr. Andy Delli Pizzi previously told NNSL Media that the patient developed Covid-19 symptoms after entering self-isolation at home. The person had no contact with anyone in the two days prior to developing symptoms, so there is no risk of the virus spreading.
At the same time, Dr. Delli Pizzi also told NNSL Media the virus was contained because the patient followed Covid-19 protocols and went into isolation upon returning to the community.
Current research on Covid-19 shows that the virus is at its most contagious up to two days prior to when symptoms appear. Because the individual developed symptoms after going into isolation, Dr. Delli Pizzi said there was no danger of being infected for people the individual may have met along the journey.
Dr. Delli Pizzi would not confirm if the individual lived alone or with other people, but said if there were other people living with the presumptive patient would also have been advised to go into self-isolation for 14 days.
A public health advisory published Oct. 16 said the individual traveled to Inuvik from Alberta by road, meaning they would have crossed three borders on the nearly 3,000 kilometre drive to the Alberta border.