Travellers to Nunavik must show negative test result before boarding

The Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services says travellers to the region must now present a negative COVID-19 test result before they fly to Nunavik from Montreal.

That has technically been a requirement for some time now, but many travellers were only being screened right before boarding and received their test results once they arrived in the region.

To facilitate better testing, the health board is opening a new Montreal-based COVID-19 clinic for people travelling to Nunavik.

Starting Oct. 28, the Nunavik Travellers’ Clinic will open its doors at 819 McCaffrey Street in Saint-Laurent—a suburb of Montreal close to the airport—to anyone travelling to Nunavik via Montreal.

Testing will no longer will available at the Montreal airport terminal.

Travellers can choose to be screened elsewhere, the health board said. Wherever they choose to go, the screening appointment must take place within 96 hours, or four days, of a flight.

Appointments can be made for screening at the Nunavik Travellers’ Clinic starting Oct. 26 by calling 1-833-341-3888 or by email at [email protected].

The clinic will be open on Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The health board encourages people to book their appointments as soon as they have their flight booked.

New interactive map shows risk levels across Nunavik

To help Nunavimmiut better understand the risk levels of COVID-19 in the region, the health board has launched an interactive map to indicate risk levels specific to Nunavik and its 14 communities.

“The new map defines the alert levels for the region, specific to Nunavik,” said Dr. Yassen Tcholakov of Nunavik Public Health. “It includes measures that would be applied in each individual village.”

The map is similar to what the Quebec government has used to illustrate what regions or zones have a high number of COVID-19 cases and must adhere to certain restrictions.

The zones on the Nunavik map range from green (no risk) to yellow (controlled risk), orange (moderate risk) and red (high risk).

Currently, all of the region’s communities are green except for Inukjuak, which is yellow due to a recent case of COVID-19 in late September, as well as Ivuvjik, also yellow, where two residents have active cases of the virus.

There are another three active cases of COVID-19 among Nunavimmiut currently staying in the south, as well as two active cases of COVID-19 among employees of Nunavik’s two mines, neither of whom has had contact with anyone who lives in the region.

The health board has advised against any non-essential travel, and for those who must travel, the health board is stressing the importance of observing a strict 14-day quarantine.