The Office of the Chief Public Health Officer will not retroactively re-introduce restrictions that were previously removed based on the Canada seven-day average case count being back over 1,000.
A spokesperson on the COVID Secretariat confirmed that self-isolation requirements will not become more strict regardless of how high the national case count gets.
Self-isolation requirements for NWT residents travelling back into the territory were cut back in late June as Canada’s seven day average went under 1,000.
That signaled a move to phase two of the Emerging Wisely plan, followed quickly by a move to phase three, the loosening of indoor restrictions a week later.
The territory has been trying to get to phase four for almost two months now, however given the increasing risk, the spokesperson says they will not be able to meet the criteria set out in Emerging Wisely.
“We will amend the approach to leisure travel to reflect this increasing risk,” she adds.
The spokesperson says while they will still move forward with opening up the NWT to leisure travel, it will focus on allowing fully vaccinated travellers to come to the NWT.
“This is a less risky option, given the fourth wave and spread of the delta variant, and a large unvaccinated population of young people going into the school setting,” she adds.
The NWT is currently at 72 percent fully vaccinated, almost at the 75 percent threshold it needs to be at in order to move towards the easing of restrictions on leisure travel.
The spokesperson says it is important to also remember that the 75 percent coverage among NWT residents is the minimum target for protection.
“Higher vaccine uptake will help better protect everyone in the community including children under 12 years of age and those who are unable to be vaccinated against the virus,” she adds.
