Kimmirut, Kugluktuk added to Nunavut’s COVID-19 case list

Territory’s case count jumped by 90 cases over the weekend

Kugluktuk is seen in a file photo. COVID-19 cases were reported in the community and in Kimmirut over the weekend. (Photo by Dustin Patar)

By Nunatsiaq News

A first-ever case of COVID-19 was reported in the small hamlet of Kimmirut over the weekend, while Kugluktuk logged its first case in months.

By Monday, the total case count in Nunavut was 285, up by 90 from 195 on Friday.

A case was confirmed in Kimmirut, which has a population of about 425, on Saturday, while a presumed case was reported in Kugluktuk on Sunday.

The Hamlet of Kugluktuk told its approximately 1,500 residents in a Facebook post on Sunday that the mayor had been notified of the case.

“[The individual] arrived with it and there is no evidence of spread at this time,” the post states.

The hamlet urged residents not to panic and to follow the chief public health officer’s advice.

“Follow all CPHO protocols, get vaccinated and socially distance as much as possible.”

The new cases mean Nunavut only has four communities in which COVID-19 has not been detected during the current wave of outbreaks.

Arctic Bay, Clyde River, Grise Fiord and Resolute Bay have not had a case reported.

There were a total of 285 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut on Monday. (Graphic by Mélanie Ritchot)

Active case breakdown:

  • Arviat — 38
  • Baker Lake — 41
  • Cambridge Bay — 24
  • Chesterfield Inlet — 1
  • Coral Harbour — 9
  • Igloolik — 13
  • Iqaluit — 47
  • Gjoa Haven — 5
  • Kimmirut — 1
  • Kinngait — 22
  • Kugluktuk — 0 (+ 1 presumptive case)
  • Naujaat — 15
  • Qikiqtarjuaq — 1
  • Rankin Inlet — 22
  • Sanikiluaq — 29
  • Sanirajak — 7
  • Taloyoak — 7
  • Whale Cove — 3

With the territory’s total case count jumping by nearly 100 over the weekend, the biggest increase was in Iqaluit, which had 23 new cases since Friday.

Thirteen cases were counted in Sanikiluaq over the weekend after no cases were reported for 10 days.

In Sanikiluaq, the case count climbed to 29 in just over a week, after resting at one active case for 10 days.

The community is one of seven where schools reopened at half capacity on Monday, while schools in other communities opened fully.

Schools in Baker Lake, Cambridge Bay, Iqaluit, Kinngait, Arviat, Rankin Inlet and Sanikiluaq re-opened at half capacity, and Dr. Michael Patterson, the territory’s chief public health officer, is re-evaluating the situation in each community on a weekly basis.

Patterson and Premier P.J. Akeeagok will hold updates on the COVID-19 situation in Nunavut Tuesday and Thursday at 11 a.m., which can be streamed on the legislative assembly’s website.

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(6) Comments:

  1. Posted by Northern Baffin on

    please add pond inlet to the list.

  2. Posted by Fred Knot on

    285 from 195 is a huge jump, wow… As this coincides with the re-opening of our schools it seems we have to wonder if that a good idea? I don’t have an answer, but it seems concerning at least. Granted, this strain of the virus does seem much less virulent.

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  3. Posted by Same Old Broken Record on

    Pretty soon every community in Nunavut will have been infected with a case Covid/Omicron.
    So what’s next ????
    Get Vaccinated ???
    Social Distance ????
    Wash Hands ???
    Wear A Mask ?????
    Request For Food Hampers ?????
    This has been the same old song and dance for two years. If your not vaccinated by now you never will be. Hellooooooooo
    Stop Testing !!
    Go Back To Work !!
    Open Back Up !!
    Heaven forbid the Karaoke Variant hits us, and we actually get our
    FREEDOM BACK !!

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    • Posted by Randy on

      You got yhat right. Its a flu, had it, over it. Handing all my liberties to an adgenda not for health.
      .
      True it spreads crazy fast, took 3 weeks to get over with no ‘mRn’a help. Media is really downplaying how people feel about all of this now. Mandates that are not to serve man

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    • Posted by JOHNNY on

      Very soon , people are going to have to go back to work. We can t keep chasing our tail for another year .

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  4. Posted by More Details More Numbers on

    Since we have been playing the numbers games on this virus aka “COVID” from the beginning can we please started getting more precise details regarding infections.
    This may start to help people in Nunavut get a better understand of the situation we are really in.
    Can you also give the information in a way people can understand it, and not some type of “mumbo jumbo”
    I am sure people want to know if the people that are getting infected are vaccinated, or not. We are also worried about our Children that are to young to be vaccinated but go to daycare or school.
    So why cant we start reporting in the following way
    120 New Cases In Nunavut this week (Forget Naming Communities)
    80 cases were people un-vaccinated over the age of 5
    20 cases were people vaccinated over the age of 5
    20 cases were Children under the age of 5
    4 out of 120 required Hospitalization.
    Pretty simple, and may provide some type of relief to people whom live by the numbers.

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