Nunavik residents quarantine after contact with COVID-19 case
17 people had ‘significant contact’ with someone who tested positive in Kuujjuaq earlier this week, health board says
Nunavik’s COVID-19 alert map shows communities in green are at a low risk of infection, while communities marked in yellow represent a controlled risk. (Image courtesy of NRBHSS)
Nunavik health officials have ordered 17 residents to self-isolate for two weeks after they had contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 in Kuujjuaq earlier this week.
The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services announced a new case of the virus in Kuujjuaq on Wednesday.
The health board said the person was infected in the south before testing positive in the community, where they are now in isolation.
But a public health investigation has since identified 17 “significant contacts” from Kuujjuaq and other villages in the Ungava region, according to a news release issued by the health board Thursday.
“As a precautionary measure, they have all been placed in isolation and will be screened,” the health board said.
“Given the short response times, these people do not pose a risk to their community.”
The health board did not indicate if the infected person was a resident of Nunavik or a front-line worker on shift in the region, nor did the board say how or when the person would have had contact with others.
There are currently no other active cases of COVID-19 in the region.
Vaccination clinics are currently being held in communities across Nunavik; Nunavimmiut can see a schedule here.
Any Nunavimmiut who have symptoms of the virus — including fever, an unusual cough, difficulty breathing, loss of taste or smell, a runny nose or sore throat — should contact the region’s COVID health line at 1-888-662-7482.
Now , off course we don’t know who, and it’s not important to know. But in the light of concerns about an aspect of those who are more prone to pass this virus on to clients? The health authorities need to address the rationale of an essential worker. I mean does an essential worker have: not only the means to infect , but also the right to infect others, as the work is essential so it out weight the risk in the first place? I’m concerned about this whole classification of an essential worker, and their potential to do more harm than good. Many clients travel from Ungava coast to the hospital in kuujjuaq to see an essential worker, thereby many clients seeking or needing that essential worker , are they putting themselves at risk, if an essential worker , unknowingly is infected, and doesn’t need to isolate or quarantine like the regular citizens.? Just saying.