COVID-19 pandemic in Nunavut

COVID-19 pandemic in Nunavut
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationNunavut, Canada
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China
Index caseSanikiluaq
Arrival dateNovember 6, 2020
(3 years, 6 months and 4 days)
DateApril 5, 2022
Confirmed cases3,531
Active cases90
Recovered3,435
Deaths
7
Fatality rate0.2%
Government website
Nunavut Government
COVID sign at one of the local stores in Cambridge Bay

The COVID-19 pandemic in Nunavut is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Until November 6, 2020, Nunavut remained the only province or territory in Canada, and the only place in North America, that had not yet recorded a confirmed case of COVID-19,[1][2] with two early presumptive cases later ruled to be false positives,[3][4] and clusters of cases at mines in September and October involving employees flown in from outside of the territory.[5][6]

On November 6, 2020, Nunavut recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19 in-territory.[7] By mid-November, evidence of community transmission began to emerge, prompting the territory to reimplement restrictions in the affected communities. Nunavut's Chief Medical Officer Michael Patterson announced on November 16 that a territory-wide lockdown would take effect on November 18, reinstating the closure of schools and all non-essential businesses for at least two weeks.[8]

In May 2021, the Mary River Mine in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Baffin Island announced an outbreak, with over 100 employees testing positive for COVID-19. Most of these cases included the Delta variant, a highly transmissible variant of the virus. When the mine shut down operations for May, it sent many workers to their southern home communities, which has led to the variant spreading to several provinces.[9][10][11]

As of February 23, 2022, Nunavut has confirmed 2,620 COVID-19 cases, with 2,230 recoveries and five deaths.[12]

  1. ^ Dawson, Tyler (April 10, 2020). "The benefits of isolation: Nunavut doesn't have a single confirmed case of COVID-19". National Post. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  2. ^ "Nunavut's first case of COVID-19 confirmed in Sanikiluaq". CTV News. November 6, 2020. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
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  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :17 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Murphy, Jessica (October 19, 2020). "Coronavirus: The place in North America with no cases". BBC. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  7. ^ "COVID-19 GN Update - November 6, 2020". Government of Nunavut. November 6, 2020. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  8. ^ "COVID-19 GN Update - November 16, 2020". Government of Nunavut. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved February 8, 2021.
  9. ^ Yang, Jennifer (June 12, 2021). "How a massive outbreak at Nunavut's Baffinland mine sent 'sparks' of the Delta variant across the country". The Toronto Star. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  10. ^ Venn, David (June 18, 2021). "Red Cross to help Baffinland contact-trace COVID-19 outbreak". Nunatsiaq News. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  11. ^ Flanagan, Ryan (June 15, 2021). "Red Cross called in to help amid Delta variant outbreak at Nunavut mine". CTV News. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
  12. ^ "COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) | Government of Nunavut". www.gov.nu.ca. Retrieved December 24, 2021.

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