N.W.T. health officials target May 17 for return to school: CPHO

After an outbreak in a Yellowknife school forced some students out of classrooms for two weeks, health officials now say they are targeting a return to classrooms on May 17.

Dr. Kami Kandola, the N.W.T.'s chief public health officer, said at a press conference Wednesday that the 61 confirmed cases connected to the outbreak at Yellowknife's N.J. Macpherson School were all among students or their household members and close contacts.

"We have not identified new infections emerging in people not connected to this outbreak," she said. "Our best assessment is that there was no transmission to school staff within the classroom."

Schools will be asked to implement new public health measures to reduce the likelihood of a future outbreak. Those include mandatory indoor masking for students and staff, holding all assemblies, gym classes, and choir practices outdoors, and opening windows while students are on school buses and at all other times weather permits.

Students will be asked to stick to assigned seating on buses, and will be subject to unspecified "enhanced seating arrangements" in class.

Kandola said the territory's "response to the outbreak is working."

"I believe we have turned a corner," she said.

Kandola was joined by Dr. AnneMarie Pegg, the territory's medical director, Premier Caroline Cochrane, Health Minister Julie Green, and Education Minister R.J. Simpson at the news conference.

On Tuesday, officials confirmed that a COVID-19 outbreak linked to N.J. Macpherson School in Yellowknife had grown by 10 cases.

There are now 61 confirmed cases in the city and another six "probable" cases, according to a news release from Kandola.

The outbreak, first reported on May 2, has caused school closures and mask mandates in Yellowknife, Ndilo, Dettah and Behchokǫ̀, and forced more than 1,000 people into isolation.

Household transmission driving new infections

In light of the outbreak, Kandola took the extraordinary step of asking contacts to isolate even if they are vaccinated and test negative for the disease. Many of those contacts are now nearing the end of a 14-day period in isolation.

In response to questions at a news conference last week, Kandola and Pegg warned even vaccinated individuals can spread COVID-19, and questioned the efficacy of COVID-19 tests in determining if an individual was free from the disease.

Kandola said household transmission is "the main driver of new infections," and "provides the pathway for introduction into workplaces, schools, daycare and other settings, if we are not careful and if we don't isolate safely."

"Most households can return to work or school," Kandola said, "but some households or family which are household contacts of cases must isolate for longer periods because of multiple exposures of new infections within their household."

"This will be challenging for the individuals and their households, but it is an important step," she said.

Confusion over testing rules

Pegg, the territory's medical director, also tried to clear up confusion about who among individuals connected to the outbreak would need an additional COVID-19 test to exit isolation.

"The testing, and how to get tested and who should get tested, has certainly been confusing," she said.

But Pegg added to the confusion by initially saying families of staff and students at N.J. Macpherson who didn't test positive would need tests of their own to exit isolation.

Pegg later clarified that "contacts of contacts" — family members in households with N.J. Macpherson staff and students who did not test positive for COVID-19 — would not need a test to end isolation.

But staff and students themselves would need a negative test to leave isolation, even if they had already received one from earlier pop-up clinics.

Those who've tested positive, or who share a household with a positive case, will get specific advice from public health on how to end isolation, Pegg said.

Anyone else with symptoms is also still encouraged to get a test, but to avoid booking at pop-up clinics intended for N.J. Macpherson staff and students.

Pegg acknowledged that testing delays may mean individuals staying in isolation longer than 14 days. She recommended people book between day 10 and 14 of their isolation to increase their chances of receiving a response in time.

On track for 60% of Yellowknife youth vaccinated

Last Thursday, the N.W.T. became the first jurisdiction in Canada to offer COVID-19 vaccines to children aged 12-17. 

On Wednesday, Kandola said the territory was on track to vaccinate 60-70 per cent of that population in Yellowknife, Ndilo and Dettah "by the end of this week."

Green, the health minister, said 750 youth vaccine appointments had been filled in Yellowknife, and a further 90 youth in Behchoko were vaccinated.

More than 49,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been given in the N.W.T., and more than 20,000 residents are fully vaccinated.

Health officials have not identified the exact source of the infection at N.J. Macpherson School, but a spokesperson for Kandola's office said Tuesday that officials "have reason to believe that there is a connection to a domestic traveller in their infectious period."