Nunavut and N.W.T. suspend travel bubble
Decision follows uptick in COVID-19 cases in N.W.T.
A plane carrying two Russian foreign nationals was detained in Yellowknife last week for allegedly entering Canadian airspace after it was closed to Russian flights. (File photo)
The common travel area that Nunavut shares with the Northwest Territories has been suspended.
The order was given by Nunavut’s deputy chief public health officer, Dr. Anne Huang on Tuesday.
When in effect, the common travel area allows people from Nunavut to travel to the N.W.T. and vice versa, without having to isolate for 14 days.
The suspension follows an outbreak in the N.W.T. this week.
Residents of Nunavut currently in the N.W.T. who are not fully vaccinated must stay in the designated isolation hub in Yellowknife for 14 days before returning to Nunavut.
There are exceptions, though. Air travellers with the same-ticket layovers in the Yellowknife airport, vaccinated travellers that have unvaccinated dependants who are 12 years old and under, critical workers with authorized travel letters and individuals who have been granted compassionate exemptions will not have to go through a hub, according to a news release the Nunavut government issued Tuesday.
When one traveller of a household has to isolate, so do all the other unvaccinated members of that residence, the news release states.
When everybody in a household is isolating, they must have groceries delivered. If groceries cannot be delivered, one isolating member of the household can get groceries once a week.
Anyone who thinks they have been exposed to COVID-19 is asked to call the COVID hotline at 1-888-975-8601 or call their community health centre. The COVID hotline operates from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
It’s really only a matter of time before we are hit with the 4th wave, the coincidence of loosened restrictions, relatively low vaccination rates and a variant that is twice as contagious as the original (which does infect and has even killed fully vaccinated people) put us on a direct path with another lock down and soaring case rate
One thing I do not understand is why the travel hub between Nunavut and NWT is closed when we are still able to travel south where they have higher cases of Covid and the delta variant?
The unvaccinated travel bubble between NWT and NU has closed but if you’re fully vaxxed you can travel no problem between the Territories and provinces.
I’m glad my family and I are double vaccinated! So much easier to travel and feel much safer.
I trust our healthcare system, if I get sick or injured I trust them so I would go to a hospital, I also trust them with vaccines,