2 more cases of COVID-19 in Yukon, part of family 'cluster'

Yukon's chief medical officer said Monday there are two new confirmed cases of COVID-19, making them the territory's 10th and 11th cases.

Dr. Brendan Hanley said the new cases are "directly" related to another case, confirmed on Friday. They are part of a family "cluster," he said, and the infections are related to international travel by some of the family members.

He said the affected family self-isolated after the travellers returned.

However, Hanley said health officials are doing contact tracing, which may take several days. He said cluster investigations can be complicated, as officials track any possible contacts and test them.

"I think we'll know in the next couple of days how many complications we anticipate from this particular cluster, and how complicated that might get," he said.

"Even though I'm very pleased with what I heard about the self-isolation that was followed by the family members, we're always looking for potential leaks."

Watch Monday's news conference here:

All of Yukon's cases of COVID-19 so far have been related to travel outside the territory. Officials have said there is no evidence yet of any community transmission.

Eight of the 11 people affected in Yukon have now recovered from their illness. Hanley said that leaves the three new cases that are part of the family cluster yet to recover.

No Yukon cases have required hospitalization.

Hanley says Yukon is still in a "containment phase," trying to prevent any community transmission. Officials are urging people to keep following public health orders and maintain physical distance.

The territory's rate of testing has dropped significantly this month compared to last. As of Monday, 878 Yukoners had been tested for COVID-19 and the majority of those tests — more than 700 — were done before the start of April.

Hanley said earlier that testing dropped off in part because fewer people have been arriving home in the territory in recent weeks and required testing. He also said there were fewer people with the flu compared to weeks ago.

On Friday, the government announced tighter controls on who is allowed to enter the territory.