New COVID-19 case confirmed in Hay River, 2 flights flagged for potential exposure

Health officials have confirmed a new case of COVID-19 in Hay River, N.W.T., the community's first, and warned that passengers onboard two flights in the territory may have been exposed to COVID-19.

In a notice sent Saturday evening, officials said the individual's contacts were "limited" and that monitoring is ongoing. They are currently self-isolating and doing well, it says. 

The release also confirmed that passengers aboard two flights with destinations in the N.W.T., listed on a Government of Canada COVID-19 tracking site, had been exposed to COVID-19.

Over the weekend, the federal website was updated to include two flights bound for N.W.T. destinations, both on Dec. 4.

The site says passengers in rows four to 10 of Canadian North Flight 5T238 from Edmonton to Yellowknife may have been exposed to COVID-19.

It also lists rows seven to 13 of First Air Flight 7F608 from Yellowknife to Hay River, also on Dec. 4.

"Exposures on flights typically occur when people are travelling before they develop symptoms, since there are measures in place to prevent people with symptoms from flying," the N.W.T. government's release reads.

Those outside the rows specified "are not considered contacts," the release says, "and should continue following routine public health advice."

Travellers from outside the N.W.T. who do not receive an exemption as an essential worker are required to self-isolate with members of their household for 14 days after arrival in one of four "hub" communities — Yellowknife, Inuvik, Fort Smith, and Hay River.

But passengers en route to Hay River, Inuvik or Fort Smith from Yellowknife are sometimes boarded alongside passengers travelling within the territory, who are not required to self-isolate.

Public health workers are in the process of contacting passengers in the affected rows of both flights, the release says. 

It says no other exposure risks have been identified, and all individuals on board the flights "would still be required to self-isolate upon arrival." A spokesperson later corrected the statement to say that only passengers aboard the Yellowknife to Edmonton flight would be required to self-isolate.

'Fact check' issued following Facebook rumours

Later Saturday evening, Dr. Kami Kandola, the chief public health officer, tweeted a "fact check" which a spokesperson said was aimed at claims on social media that COVID-19 could be circulating more widely in the community.

"There are no additional cases of COVID-19 which have been identified at this time, no one being sought by the GNWT or any other agency, and no one who is unaccounted for in our investigation," she said. "This situation is under control."

"Please — do not spread misinformation and rumours," she went on to say. "They hurt all of us by causing needless panic, and will prevent people from coming forward for COVID-19 testing.

"Being kind to each other is how to get through this — not with fear."

On Thursday, health officials reported five new cases of COVID-19 in the territory, all related to travel. At the time, they said there was no indication of public exposure.

The day previously, tests performed on Yellowknife wastewater detected the presence of COVID-19 in the city.