Omicron variant batters Nunavut, finding even the remotest of Arctic communities

January 7, 2022

Michael Patterson, Nunavut’s chief public health officer.Emma Tranter / The Canadian Press

In the Nunavut hamlet of Rankin Inlet, a rapidly spreading COVID-19 outbreak has prompted Kathy Towongi and her neighbors to start a new practice they hope won’t last: closing its doors .

Ms Towtongi, a former member of Nunavut’s legislature, explained, “The Inuit generally don’t close their doors.” “But we are closing our doors because the spread is so shocking. we heard it was a [case] In December. Now it’s 45. We are on total lockdown. ,

Rankin Inlet, a community of about 3,000 people north of Churchill, Mann., is one of 14 fly-in communities in Nunavut battling cases of COVID-19 believed to be caused by Omicron, which Spread through a type of coronavirus. There is no version like the field before.

The Arctic outbreak sheds light on how Omicron is finding its way into every corner of Canada. Confirmed or predicted positives have been reported in locations as remote as Pond Inlet at the northern tip of Baffin Island; Sanikiluaq, the only community on the Belcher Islands in Hudson Bay; and Whale Cove, a village of about 300 people.

“We have never had so many cases of COVID-19 in our region,” Nunavut Premier PJ Akigok told a news conference on Thursday. “Most of us know a few families that struggle with the stress of separation.”

Nunavut Hado 244 Known Active Cases As of Thursday, that’s enough to persuade the area’s chief public health officer, Michael Patterson, to follow other jurisdictions in rationing confirmatory laboratory tests for the virus.

Twelve Nunavut communities have confirmed positive cases and at least one in two has been caught positive by rapid testing. Dr. Patterson said the bulk was Omicron.

The true number of cases in Nunavut is almost certainly higher. Arviat’s mayor, Joe Savikatak, Jr., said Thursday that his community total — 48 — had not been updated in days because Blizzard was blocking planes from taking samples to Rankin Inlet for testing.

Arviat, located halfway between Churchill and Rankin, has the second largest outbreak in the region after the capital, Iqaluit. It was the hardest-hit community in Nunavut earlier in the pandemic.

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Nunavut has been in lockdown since December, meaning social gatherings were banned during the Christmas holidays, a period of communal festivities typically during the darkest stretch of the Arctic winter. Indoor dining, libraries, gyms, amphitheaters and churches are also closed.

“The gifts weren’t really passed on or visited with families,” said Rachel Kitsulik-Tinsley, executive director of Parizet Tigummiyaktikkut, an aging society in Iqaluit. “No dancing, no feasting, no church services. So it was all really different. In communities, it was hard for people.”

However, Ms Kitsulik-Tinsley said the Inuit elders she knows are coping well with the lockdown, having survived harsh winters and potential starvation on land in their youth.

As Omicron gains a foothold in more Nunavut communities, stopping its spread may be difficult because places to isolate are notoriously in short supply.

“The worry is homes are overcrowded,” Ms Towtongi said. “Like, there will be 13 people in a two-bedroom house. and if [the outbreak] Continues and continues, food security will become an issue.”

Dr. Patterson said Nunavut residents who develop symptoms while living with someone who is COVID positive should assume they are infected and isolated, rather than seeking testing. He added that sooner and more rapid antigen tests will be distributed in Nunavut, including some airports.

Dr. Patterson said the sector had to cut the number of gold-standard lab tests it processes to free up staff to run routine diagnostic tests for heart conditions, diabetes, tuberculosis and other diseases.

“Something had to be given,” he said.

Iqaluit’s lack of lab staff to process tests is just one way the region’s underfunded health care system is struggling with the latest outbreaks.

François de Vet, Nunavut’s regional chief of staff and chief of staff of the region’s only hospital, Kikkitani General, said five of Iqaluit’s eight lab technicians resigned in November and December, leaving the lab unusually low. . He said another technician has been hired.

Dr. De Vet said that Qikiqtani General has not been affected so far in the absence of COVID-related staff in hospitals in other parts of the country. Some doctors and nurses from the South could not come to Nunavut as planned because of testing positive.

Dr. Patterson told the news conference that six Nunavut residents were hospitalized for COVID-19 during this wave. Dr. de Vet said in an interview that all have been shifted to hospitals in the south for care.

For now, the major staffing challenge for all sectors in Nunavut is the lack of child care for workers. Schools are closed until at least January 17 and some daycare centers have decided to close temporarily.

The premier issued a “special petition” to reopen the daycare. “Our health care workers, store workers, water and waste management staff must go above and beyond to help our region during the severe wave of COVID-19,” Mr Akigok said. “Many of these critical services are now close to breaking point. Employees are tired of balancing work as well as child care.”

For Iqaluit, the COVID-19 outbreak that began in the first week of December marked the end of a two-month water crisis. Residents were forbidden from drinking from their taps for two months after an underground fuel leak contaminated a tank at the city’s water treatment plant.

“This is the answer. We go from crisis to crisis,” said Dr. de Vet. “The people here are resilient. If you look at the social values ​​of the Inuit – thinking out-of-the-box, working together, finding consensus Being innovative – it really serves us well in situations like this.”

At Rankin Inlet, Ms Towtongi, who is also the wife of Mayor Harry Towtongi, said the community was looking for creative ways to break out of lockdown. On January 1, residents started the new year with a safe vehicular parade and a fireworks show, held a day late due to wild winds.

He said Facebook and the local Inuktitut radio station have also been a lifeline. People try to head out for walks and snowmobile rides, including an elderly cabin outside the community that serves as a scenic overlook.

“Everyone is following the public-health rules,” Ms Towangi said. “At Rankin, we’re a close family. If someone dies, we’ll get to know him right away and know who he is and that hurts.”

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