Anyone returning to the Beaufort Delta from outside the Northwest Territories will be screened and have to spend 14-days in isolation in Inuvik.
The town announced the measures at approximated 11:30 a.m. March 23, adding check points are in place both at Mike Zubko Airport and on the Dempster Highway.
"While we are responding to the evolving situation, our main focus has been on our procedure to how Inuvik will receive, monitor, house and feed those returning to Inuvik from one of the smaller regional communities or those who do not have an adequate space at home to fulfill the requirements for the 14 days of required self-isolation," reads the press release. "As you are now aware, the Chief Health Officer and the Government of the Northwest Territories now requires every person entering the Territory (including residents) to self-isolate for 14 days."
Anyone who lands at the airport or arrives through the Dempster Highway will first be screened and required to fill out a self-isolation plan and submit it to the NWT government. The self-isolation plan is essentially a questionnaire asking what your permanent address is, where you traveled from and how, how many people are staying with you and where you plan to self-isolate.
Even travelers returning to Tuktoyaktuk, Fort McPherson, Tsiigehtchic, Aklavik, Ulukhaktok, Paulatuk or Sachs Harbour will be required to self-isolate in Inuvik for the 14-day period. If living arrangements for the time period cannot be arranged, the town has arranged for the Mackenzie Hotel to be set up as a designated accommodation for residents bound for the outer communities.
Anyone self-isolating at the Mackenzie Hotel is forbidden to have visitors and must pre-arrange any and all transactions first by phoning the On-Call Number 867.678.5297. Please no such calls are to be made after 11:00 pm. All people staying at the hotel will be provided with basic necessities and three meals each day.
"It is important to note that the individuals that are required to self-isolate are doing as a precautionary measure as per the mandate of the Chief Health Officer," continues the release. "At this time no person using this accommodation is showing symptoms or is believed to have the COVID-19 virus, but rather are being required to self-isolate and self-monitor for a duration of 14-days before returning to their home community where access to health services may be reduced, to limit the possibility of unintentional exposure."