Yukon announces new case of COVID-19, first in territory in months
Yukon has its first locally-acquired case of COVID-19, said Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Brendan Hanley on Friday.
The case involves a Whitehorse resident who travelled to Dawson City, and visited tourist sites, with family members within the last two weeks, Hanley said at a news conference Friday afternoon.
The person had not travelled out of territory, he said, and was in Whitehorse during the infectious period.
Last Friday, Hanley warned that Yukoners may have been exposed to COVID-19 after two visitors to the territory subsequently tested positive for the disease. The visitors had been to Dawson City and Whitehorse.
"Today marks another pivotal moment in the still young history of COVID-19 in Yukon," Hanley said Friday.
He said they suspect there is a chain of transmission between the visitors and the new patient. He said it is possible the person acquired the infection either in Whitehorse or in Dawson.
Contacts in Dawson have been identified and officials are following up with them. Dawson residents who exhibit even mild symptoms of COVID-19 are asked to get tested at the Dawson City Community Hospital or the local health centre, the government said.
As long as we stay in this containment mode and stay ahead of community spread, that is our goal. - Dr. Brendan Hanley
As well, Whitehorse residents who have travelled to Dawson City since July 20 and are experiencing symptoms should call Yukon Communicable Disease Control directly and arrange to get tested. Anyone who was in Dawson between July 20 and Aug. 7 should monitor for symptoms, he said.
People who may have been at Superstore in Whitehorse between 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. on Aug. 1, or who attended the Sunday service at Sacred Heart Cathedral at 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 2, should also monitor themselves for symptoms.
The patient is "feeling better" and recovering at home, Hanley said. He didn't specify where in Dawson City the person visited.
'We expected to see cases'
Hanley said he is not considering mandatory face masks at this time.
"I think really nothing has changed," he said. The case still lends itself to containment and contact tracing, he said, and is "just as confident as I was three days ago."
"We expected to see cases," said Hanley. "As long as we stay in this containment mode and stay ahead of community spread, that is our goal."
Hanley said last week that another jurisdiction notified Yukon Communicable Disease Control about the two visitors who subsequently tested positive. At the time, he said risk to Yukoners was low.
As a result of the public health warning last week, there was a backlog in testing. Hanley said the advisory led to a flurry of testing last weekend and early this week.
This is Yukon's 15th confirmed case of COVID-19. It has been months since Yukon or the N.W.T. has had an active case; Nunavut is still the only jurisdiction in Canada to not have any positve cases of COVID-19.
Miss the news conference? Watch it here:
