The acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Catherine Elliott is reporting nine new cases of COVID-19 from 12 p.m. Tuesday, August 17, to 12 p.m. today. The number of active cases is currently at 47. Dr. Catherine Elliott confirms that one out of territory resident and one Yukoner have been confirmed to have the Delta variant. The case investigations on these two cases are complete and their contacts are isolating. One person with the Delta variant is in hospital. There are no exposure events within the Yukon associated with these cases.
Total number of confirmed Yukon cases since March 22, 2020: 668; 608 cases since June 1, including out of territory residents diagnosed in the Yukon and probable cases. Out of territory individuals who are diagnosed in the Yukon are counted in the active count but not in the Yukon total case count as they are counted in their home jurisdiction.
For the new cases since 12 p.m. on August 17, there are nine new cases:
- Eight cases in rural Yukon.
- One case is an out of territory resident.
Since June 1, 2021, 616 people have recovered and six people have died, five of whom were unvaccinated and one was partially vaccinated. A total of eight people have died from COVID-19 since November 2020.
The Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health continues to monitor daily activity and as active cases decrease and daily case counts are stabilized, information bulletins will be issued as needed. The number of cases will continue to be updated Monday through Friday online.
I appreciate that this news of the Delta variant may be concerning and I want to be clear that this transmission occurred outside of the Yukon and that there have been no known exposures to others in the Yukon. We know Delta is on the rise and it is only a matter of time until we see more cases so, Yukoners, please do your part to protect yourself and others and get vaccinated. Vaccination remains our best protection against these variants.
Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Catherine Elliott
Testing and vaccines
Anyone experiencing symptoms in Whitehorse should call the COVID-19 Testing and Assessment Centre at 867-393-3083 or book online to arrange for testing.
People in communities should contact their rural community health centre. Testing turnaround times remain very quick, 24 hours in the previous week, and negative results can now be accessed online for faster access to results.
Erin Scott
Communications, Health and Social Services
867-332-7871
erin.scott@yukon.ca