Public health officials have confirmed a second case of COVID-19 infection in the Northwest Territories.
The subject is an Inuvik resident. They are self-isolating at home with members of their household and are mildly symptomatic.
The person traveled to British Columbia and self-isolated upon their return March 21. They developed symptoms five days after returning home.
Noting that the government had only been made aware of the case around lunchtime April 1, chief public health officer Kami Kandola said the individual "did everything right."
Because symptoms didn't develop until the person was already self-isolating, Kandola said other individuals on the flight do not need to be notified.
"It's not expected hospitalization will be required," she said. "They went into immediate self-isolation as per the order. In this scenario, the individual flew back five days before they became symptomatic.
"This represents an example all residents must follow in the coming weeks in complying with public health orders to limit the spread of this virus, in our territory. The public is being notified of the community because the size of Inuvik allows for appropriate privacy protection.
To date, 978 COVID-19 tests have been completed in the NWT with two positive cases.
Territorial medical director Dr. Sarah Cook said there was an average of four days wait time to get results from a COVID-19 test, but added part of the what was holding the NWT's numbers back was a backlog at the testing laboratory in Edmonton.
"One of the factors creating a time-lag in getting results is actually the backlog at the Alberta lab where the swabs are getting processed," she said. "We know they're working 24 hours a day at the lab. The backlog depends on where the swab is coming from and varies day to day depending on the number of swabs the lab is processing."
Cook said that anyone who needs a test can either contact the Inuvik Hospital, or be tested at an off-site testing facility set up at the Inuvik Legion McInnes Branch 220. She added that the whole territory has 19 ventilators available and six intensive care units in the event of an outbreak.
Kandola also cautioned residents to avoid large gatherings, noting the government had received reports of large funerals happening in spite of the public health recommendation to cancel all gatherings.
"Beyond being an event where people can spread the virus, they also are the kind of event that attract Elders, who are more at risk of serious complications from COVID-19," said Kandola, who also said RCMP had received complaints about late night parties in crowded houses. "For those of you who are feeling invincible, this is not a time for a party and if you are organizing them you a bringing unnecessary danger to your community. If you are young and healthy, you might not even notice if you have the virus, but you can still spread it to people who can get really sick."
She added that the "Protect NWT" complaints line had received 85 calls, with 15 under active investigation and 58 calls resulting in warnings. In addition, over 2,000 self-isolation plans have been filled out and submitted to the NWT.
Kandola said that the example shown by the patient was the right way to go about returning to the NWT from traveling and the fact the virus was isolated in the household shows the strategy is working.
"Our focus is identifying COVID-19 cases that will be entering the NWT through travel," she said. "We can't prevent COVID cases from coming into NWT, but what we can do is put public health measures such as mandatory self-isolation so we can isolate these cases, isolate them, trace their contacts and minimize the spread of those cases into the community.
"In this scenario in Inuvik, kudos to that household. They followed the full direction. Once they arrived in Inuvik they went on mandatory self-isolation. They had minimal contact with the outside world. When they had to get tested they called ahead to the hospital to have their member tested with minimum interface with the other members of the public, returned back to their household and stayed isolated until the tests results occurred."
With files from Craig Gilbert.