The community of Colville Lake has declared a state of emergency in response its rising number of COVID-19 cases, Chief Wilbert Kochon said, Aug. 18.
鈥淓verything seems calm. Everyone is co-operating. But the numbers are rising,鈥� Kochon said. 鈥淲e called a state of emergency so we can get more backup from the government, if necessary. We need people to make sure they stay in and don鈥檛 run around. We need to keep an eye on people.鈥�
There are five active cases of COVID-19 in Colville Lake, with 44 cases in Fort Good Hope, seven in Norman Wells, 12 in Yellowknife, three in D茅l谋台n臋 and one in Inuvik, according to the latest update on Aug. 17 from the Office of the Chief Public Health Officer.
The two most recent cases in Norman Wells occurred in the town鈥檚 Sahtu虂 Dene Necha虂 Ko 台虂Long Term Care Facility, where chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola declared an outbreak on Aug. 18.
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Kochon believes that the infections will start to change the minds of vaccine skeptics in Colville Lake, which has the lowest vaccination rate of any community in the NWT.
Only 28 per cent of residents there have been fully vaccinated, with 44 per cent partially vaccinated, according to the most recent data posted on the COVID-19 Dashboard.
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Kochon re-iterated comments he made in May when he said that residents between the ages of 18 and 35 are reluctant to get vaccinated. He attributed their hesitancy to misinformation spread on social media.
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鈥淏ut now COVID-19 is here,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think more young people will think about getting vaccinated. People who were against the vaccines before want to get them right now. The majority who are under 25 haven鈥檛 been vaccinated. The people who weren鈥檛 vaccinated are the ones testing positive now. There are some vaccines here in the health centre. We have a couple nurses here who came in on Monday and they鈥檝e been busy rapid testing people.鈥�
He noted that even some Elders who were vaccinated have tested positive for the virus.
鈥淥ne is 86 and one is 80. But they鈥檙e doing well. They said they had a little cold, they didn鈥檛 know it was COVID-19. A (family member) in Fort Good Hope who is 93 was medevacked to Yellowknife because he was dehydrated. I鈥檓 not sure if he was vaccinated. And he tested positive. He鈥檚 giving the nurses a hard time now,鈥� Kochon said with a laugh.
鈥淗e鈥檚 a very hyper Elder. I guess he doesn鈥檛 like to sit in one spot. I guess he鈥檚 doing good. I鈥檓 happy that he鈥檚 good,鈥� he said.
Kandola said in a tweet on Aug. 18 that COVID-19 infections in vaccinated individuals doesn鈥檛 mean vaccines aren鈥檛 working but rather that unvaccinated individuals will have 鈥渢en times the rate of infection of vaccinated people.鈥�
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Kochon urges residents to get their vaccines before infected individuals become sicker.
鈥淚t鈥檚 real. It鈥檚 up to people themselves to look at vaccinations. I鈥檓 not going to force them. They have to decide for themselves. We want them to do it of their own free will.鈥�
