Iqaluit reports 1st case of COVID-19, orders closures – CBC

Affected individual is isolating

Apr 14, 2021

Iqaluit has reported its first case of COVID-19, the government of Nunavut confirmed on Wednesday.

As a result, the government is ordering all non-essential businesses and government offices to close effective Thursday at 7 a.m. Schools will close for the rest of the week in the community of roughly 8,000 people, the government said in a statement.

In addition, it said masks are mandatory in the territory’s capital.

Nunavut’s chief public health officer Dr. Michael Patterson said the affected individual is isolating and doing well. As well, public health officials have initiated contract tracing and are working to identify potential high-risk contacts.

“We ask residents of Iqaluit to stay home as much as possible and limit contact with other community members, including family members living in different households,” Patterson said in a statement.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/covid-19-cases-in-iqaluit-1.5988330