COVID-19 pushes the Nunavut Territory to the “limit”, “says Akeeagok.

The Nunavut Territory is approaching the “limit” as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout the region, doubling the number of active cases overnight and arriving at three more communities, PJAkeeagok said. The prime minister says.

“There are active cases in eight communities and we are nearing our limits in terms of medical capacity,” Akeeagok said in a public update to the Legislative Assembly Wednesday morning.

The Prime Minister added that he is working on a proposal to the federal government for further support for nurses, support staff, contact tracing, personal protective equipment and housing.

Akeeagok said in a public update at the legislative assembly Wednesday morning that there were 74 active incidents in eight communities. Arviat, Baker Lake and Igloolik have joined the list of five communities where cases have been confirmed.

On Tuesday, the Nunavut Territory government reported 37 active cases. Last Friday there were eight people. The first case of the latest wave was reported on December 21st.

As of Wednesday, the number of active cases for each community is:

• Iqaluit — 25
• Rankin Inlet — 22
• Sanirajak-9
• Pangnirtung — 9
• Arviat — 6
• Qikiqtarjuaq — 1
• Baker Lake — 1
• Igloolik — 1

According to Dr. Michael Patterson, Director of Public Health, it is not yet known whether any of these cases are the result of a rapidly prevailing variant of Omicron. He added that tests to determine if a case is the result of a mutation usually take 1 week to 10 days.

According to Patterson, three patients were hospitalized.

At the moment, the biggest burden on the Nunavut health system is related to contact tracing. This is the process of finding other people with whom a person diagnosed with COVID-19 is in contact.

“Our ability to identify and track every thread of transmission is hampered by a huge amount,” Patterson said.

Hospital workers aren’t as nervous as contact tracing staff yet. However, without proper contact tracing, COVID-19 is at risk of spreading out of control to people at high risk of illness and frontline workers in the “major industry”.

This spread has led the Nunavut Territory government to extend the blockade for 10 days until January 17. The school remained closed until then, and only “very important” civil servants would work in the office, Akeeagok said.

The prime minister said he was working with the territorial personnel department to figure out which government agencies were closed and which GN employees could work from home during the blockade.

Akeeagok and Patterson both paid homage to health care workers, many of whom worked throughout the second Chirstmas period instead of spending time with their families. According to Patterson, a two-year “increased stress” for health workers leads to “changes” within the sector, and increased demand for nurses, doctors and other workers puts pressure on the health sector in Nunavut. It is said that it was added. ..

“Currently, we just don’t have enough staff to go around,” he said.

They asked Nunavummiut to be patient with healthcare professionals working “24 hours a day” to test and contact trace.

“They are doing their best to respond in a timely manner,” Akeeagok said.

The Prime Minister and Chief Public Health Director told Nunavummiut to stay home, avoid meetings, wear masks, get vaccinated and get booster shots, get tested when symptoms appear, etc. , Repeated plea to follow public health advice.

“At home is the best way to stop the spread of this virus,” Akeeagok said.

He and Patterson will provide the following updates on the status of COVID-19 at 11:00 am on January 6th.