MLA says Alberta man visited Hay River, didn't self-isolate

People in the southern N.W.T. are worried about who's coming over the border, and potentially carrying COVID-19.

In the legislature Thursday, Hay River South MLA Rocky Simpson described an example he heard Wednesday, about a man who came from Alberta claiming to be an essential worker, then visited several job sites attempting to sell mechanictools.

"As far as I know, the person did not self-isolate and visited businesses around the community," Simpson said.

He also pointed out that Hay River has businesses that sell tools. "We have a retailer that has his own truck filled with tools and he is sitting at home because he is following our rules."

Simpson said the story was just one example of the kind of thing he's hearing a lot. Another is of a former resident who had returned to the community after years in the South, though Simpson said he believed that person was self-isolating.

"With all the complaints we hear," Simpson said, "we could continue these types of statements until a vaccine is found for COVID-19."

'Very disturbing'

The N.W.T. imposed a broad ban on travel into the territory on March 21, with exemptions for returning residents and essential workers, who would be required to self-isolate for 14-days upon arrival.The rules were further tightened on April 27.

"The case you cited is very disturbing to me," said Diane Thom, the minister of Health and Social Services, during question period Thursday. She vowed to look into the incident.

Travelers carrying the novel coronavirus now pose the biggest threat to remote regions like the N.W.T. The danger is illustrated by the case of a New Brunswick doctor who failed to self-isolate after traveling to Quebec for personal reasons. He eventually developed the illness, sparking a new outbreak of COVID-19 and exposing at least 150 peoplein a region that had few active cases.

'Not in a bubble'

Simpson said he's worried about N.W.T. residents traveling south during the summer months and getting lax with self-isolation upon return. "The last thing we want to do is turn our residents into criminals."

Minister Thom said the compliance and enforcement task force is prepared for that, and working closely with officers at the borders to keep a lid on it.

Premier Caroline Cochrane addressed the same issue on Wednesday.

"That is my biggest worry for this whole summer, is people think that we are in this bubble," she said. "We are not in a bubble."

Cochrane said she's counting on residents to report people breaking the order by calling the Protect NWT enforcement line at 1-833-378-8297 or emailing protectnwt@gov.nt.ca.