Nunavik health officials announce new COVID-19 case

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.)

Nunavik health officials announced a new case of COVID-19 on Friday morning, the first positive case detected in the region since April.

The person infected with the virus travelled to the region from Montreal on Wednesday, said Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services spokeswoman Sandrine Berger in a Friday news release.

The health board is recommending anyone who travelled on Air Inuit flight 3H802 from Montreal to Nunavik’s Hudson coast on Wednesday or Thursday to monitor for potential symptoms of the virus or call their local health centre to get tested.

“A few significant contacts were identified,” Berger said. “They were required to stay in isolation.

“But they present no risk at this time for others, as their contact with the case was too early to become infected,” Berger said.

The infected person and any significant contacts have since been flown out of the region, she said.

The health board recently lifted quarantine requirements for any fully vaccinated people travelling to the region.

But even fully vaccinated travellers must provide a negative COVID-19 test between 48 and 72 hours before boarding a flight to Nunavik, as well as a second test seven days after arrival to the region.

And all travellers are required to wear masks during their flights.

There have been 42 cases of COVID-19 among Nunavik residents since the start of the pandemic and two deaths.

An earlier version of this story said that two people tested positive for COVID-19 in the region when, in fact, there was just one confirmed case. Nunatsiaq News regrets the error.