Saskatchewan’s top doctor is restricting all non-critical travel in the northern part of the province and is recommending that people do not travel between northern communities as municipalities struggle to address clusters of COVID-19 cases.
Six of the ten new cases Friday are in the Far North, which also has 25 of the 57 province wide active cases.
La Loche and the Clearwater River Dene First Nation are approaching 20 cases as of Thursday evening. The English River First Nation this week reported four cases.
Premier Scott Moe said exemptions will be made for the delivery of groceries and other essential supplies and services and for Indigenous hunting activities.
To help mitigate the La Loche outbreak, a rapid testing machine is being deployed to that community and health officials have expanded testing criteria. It is not known how wide spread testing will be.
For self-isolation the province is offering the use of available social housing and work camp mobile units and if need be the local school. Meal delivery will be accessible for people in isolation.
The trace of the transmission is linked to an oilsands camp north of Fort McMurray Alberta.
Moe assures that the province has the capacity for increased testing and contact tracing in La Loche.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority has provided additional personal protective equipment (PPE) to the La Loche Health Centre and the province is working with the federal government to obtain additional PPE for that area.
“Northern people have been asking the province to protect us for weeks to keep the virus out of the north,” said Athabasca MLA Buckley Belanger. “Now that it’s here, they’re finally imposing elevated restrictions to keep it from spreading south. Where are the measures we need to keep our communities safe and our people healthy?”
Provincial fire suppression officials could be seconded to help northern leaders with informational checkpoints.
A civilian employee at the La Loche RCMP Detachment has tested positive for COVID-19 after displaying symptoms. The RCMP said the employee is now in self-isolation.
Two other civilian employees and four RCMP officers from the detachment are also in self-isolation awaiting testing for the virus after being in direct contact with the employee who tested positive.
The La Loche detachment and RCMP vehicles are now being thoroughly disinfected. RCMP employees from outside the community will be covering the positions of the seven employees while they self-isolate.