Dr. Michael Patterson self-isolating after COVID-19 exposure
Nunavut’s chief public health officer says he has tested negative but is staying home as a precaution
Dr. Michael Patterson, seen here at Tuesday’s COVID-19 update, is self-isolating after coming in contact with someone on Monday who has since tested positive for the virus. (File photo by David Venn)
Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer, who has guided the territory through the COVID-19 pandemic for two years, is himself self-isolating after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
Patterson said in a news release Thursday afternoon that he was exposed to someone on Monday who has since tested positive for the virus. He said that he is working from home and isolating until Feb. 17. Patterson spoke publicly at Tuesday’s COVID-19 update at the legislative assembly.
“Like many other Nunavummiut, I have had to undergo 10 days of isolation due to being a high-risk contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19,” he said.
“I am healthy and to date have not tested positive for the virus but am doing my part to protect the health of my community, colleagues and loved ones by following the isolation rules.”
Patterson reminded people to follow COVID-19 guidelines and to self-isolate if they find out they have been a close contact. Contacts of contacts are not required to isolate, but should self-monitor for symptoms, he said.
“If you have been in close, direct, and sustained contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive, within two days of them testing positive, please isolate for 10 days regardless of vaccination status,” he said. “As always, please wear a mask and follow public health measures.”
There were 337 active COVID-19 cases across Nunavut on Thursday, 133 of which were in Iqaluit.
You have my sympathy, now! Close down the schools so it won’t affect any other human beings.
Given the importance of educating our children, if we continue to have people infected with mild symptoms, and if we continue to not have people going into ICU or dying from the virus, I do not understand why we would close schools or anything else for that matter. That is assuming that people isolate themselves when they are sick out of respect for others who might be vulnerable to more serious illness.
What ever happened to isolating 7 days if you have covid and up to date with the booster. You keep changing the rules this is very confusing and frustrating for every one
Read the article and don’t skip words. You won’t be confused anymore once you notice the bullshit you are saying. Once you have completed this short literature, open the Government of Nunavut website and read the COVID-19 associated restrictions. Just like “think before you speak”, apply “read before you write”
Seems like only in Nunavut is isolation 10 days without a positive result?
Over reaching or what?
Stay safe Doctor and thank you for everything you do and have done for the Nunavut population. Not an easy task or responsibility.
The doctor needs some rest anyways. Take a break and a month off to recharge.
There is some debate as to whether 7 or 10 days is the required isolation period.
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A number of provinces changed from a 10 day isolation period to a 7 day isolation period during the rise of the Omicron variant. As far as I am able to determine this was done for two reasons.
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Primarily it was due to the fear that there would not be enough medical staff to care for patients in hospitals and long term care homes as Omicron was infecting far more vaccinated individuals than expected. The concern quickly spread to other essential services; paramedics, police, firefighters, and even those in industry and the service sectors.
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Secondarily it was perceived that while more infectious Omicron was “milder” with less severe symptoms and a shorter period of infection. There may be some truth to this although calling Omicron “milder” is a misnomer. More people are vaccinated and Omicron seems to attack the upper respiratory system (nose/throat) more than the lower respiratory system (lungs). Outcomes for vaccinated individuals are statistically better with Omicron than with Delta or the original virus. Unvaccinated people still make up the majority of deaths.
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Studies done indicate that some people are still infectious in the 7 to 10 day period but overall vaccinated individuals have a lower viral load with Omicron, therefore less chance of being infectious.
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Given a choice isn’t it better to be more certain and wait the 10 days?
Hey Old Trapper,
You have been commenting time and time again over the past two years since Covid hit us, and you have been a stanch believer in following medical direction to the “T”
So what’s next ?
We are all social distancing and wearing mask.
We are all staying home when told to and isolate when we become sick.
Yet this virus has found its way into our lives time and time again.
We all have been vaccinated and boosted, yet we are still getting Covid, maybe not as severe because of our vaccinations but we are still getting it.
So what do we do now ?
Stay home every time your nose is runny
Get tested every time you sneeze
Permanently Close everything except for the hospital, Post Office, Northern, and the Beer & Wine Store.
Stop all passenger flights into Nunavut.
I am very interested in hearing your opinion on how things show unfold in the coming weeks and months here for Nunavut
Preventing bad outcomes is also part of this strategy. Less people going in ICU and God willing no deaths this wave. Remember that? When people from Nynavut died of covid in 2020-21? Lest you forget.
*Nunavut
I did make a long detailed reply to you, not sure what happened to it as it never did show up.
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COV2 will become endemic, and my main points are that we should have had tighter restrictions to start plus greatly increased testing, and tracing.
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Our politicians, both federal and provincial. failed us.
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They lied to us (masks aren’t needed) to preserve PPE for medical workers.
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The federal government should have closed the borders tight and had returning Canadians quarantine on arrival, instead the government sent repatriation flights and imported more Covid-19 on every flight.
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The federal government should have declared an Emergency and worked out one policy with the provinces. After the initial wave Atlantic Canada stopped people at the provincial borders, probably illegal but effective.
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Compare Canada and New Zealand;
Canada – 3,204738 cases and 35,600 deaths.
New Zealand – 22,330 cases and 53 deaths.
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Canada has 8 times the population, if we had done what New Zealand did we would have had 178,640 cases and 424 deaths.
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The way to beat Covid-19 was to lock every country down tight, test, track, trace any outbreaks and keep the numbers low. If that had been done there likely would be no Alpha, Delta, Omicron variants.
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We could have put all of our efforts into vaccination, keeping numbers low, testing, tracking, tracing. Remember that the mRNA vaccines were 95% effective against infection by the original strain of COV2.
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Since this didn’t happen in most of the world COV2 will become endemic, everyone will either catch it, or gain immunity through a vaccine. It’s likely that we will need annual vaccinations to keep up with variants, and hopefully the variants don’t turn more deadly.
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The Spanish flu did not end, it’s descendants/mutations infect us every year. COV2 will be the same way, we just need to get the vulnerable vaccinated, and for this current wave to decrease, then it’s on to the endemic phase.
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I know that I will get as many annual or semi-annual boosters as possible, and I will probably continue to wear a mask in public, at least for the next 6 months to a year, maybe for many years to come. But you do you, all I ask is that you don’t infect me.
I heard the doctor likes yummy shawarma. Perhaps someone could bring him yummy shawarma?
I have been wanting to tell people including who does not believe in wearing a musk. Think of the doctors, medical workers and surgeons and so many others who wear musk to protect them self’s and others. Imagine, if you are going in to have a surgery you saw they are not wearing a musk. Wouldn’t you be concern?. Do you know how many doctors and nurses are dealing with COVID — 19 to save the patients and most of them never catch the virus. All of them have been vaccinated. Some people dot even think that way!. Thank you doctor.
Indigenous children were forced to go to school by the government, kidnapped, forced to lose their culture, forced to lose their language.
Yet it’s passed on and today’s children are forced to go to school during virus outbreak when every indigenous community has lack of professional health care providers. It even had shortage of nurses all across Nunavut.