GNWT releases follow-up report on the overall well-being of residents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

Press Release

March 20, 2023

The Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) released its latest Social Indicators COVID-19 Pandemic report. The report examines the potential social impacts of health measures taken to protect against COVID-19.

Highlights of the report’s findings include:

The number of visits related to anxiety fell in 2022, but remain higher than they were in in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
The number of visits to community health centers related to anxiety and depression from August to October 2022 were similar to those in the same months in 2021.
During the first half of 2022 the number of medical visits for alcohol related harms were lower than or similar to the same time period in 2021. However, this trend reversed from July to October 2022, with alcohol related medical visits being higher than the same months in 2021. This trend has continued in January 2023.

This social indicator data provides valuable insight to help determine what actions need to be taken by the Health and Social Services system. However, interpretation of the data needs to be carefully considered due to limitations, such as the NWT’s relatively small population, the short duration of the studies, and information misclassification.

In May 2020, the Department of Health and Social Services put together a working group to examine whether public health measures during the pandemic were having unintended negative consequences on the well-being of NWT residents. For example, it was anticipated that social isolation would create challenges in reporting concerns of suspected child/youth maltreatment.

GNWT releases follow-up report on the overall well-being of residents since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic

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