Yellowknife — April 27, 2020
Targeted changes have been introduced to keep residents safe, and keep COVID-19 contained in the NWT.
Effective immediately, essential service workers and those supporting them; infrastructure workers employed by the GNWT, Municipal Governments, Indigenous Governments and Organizations; and corrections officers returning to the NWT are subject to new restrictions.
These new measures cover practices like social distancing after entering the territory, symptom declarations, and other accountability and tracking measures to enhance COVID-19 protection and response in the NWT.
The purpose of this shift is to put additional protections in-place to mitigate the risks inherent in welcoming out-of-territory workers who may be traveling from locations where COVID-19 community spread has occurred, and track where they are and what they’re doing when in the NWT.
NWT Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Kami Kandola has indicated that ramping up risk reduction related to out-of-territory travel, alongside tightened border measures, are the first pieces which must fall into place as the territory looks towards a relaxing of public health measures.
Quote
“There’s only one shot you get at containment, and I’m proud of the work our territory has done to achieve it. All this doesn’t happen by itself, and we still have a lot of work ahead to keep us in containment while a vaccine is developed. But these kinds of targeted measures are needed in order to look at relaxing restrictions at home.”
-Diane Thom, Minister of Health and Social Services
Relevant links
· Amended Order Restricting Travel And Placing Requirements On Certain Workers
Media contact
Cabinet Communications
