COVID-19 case count increases to 17

Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Brendan Hanley confirmed two additional cases of COVID-19 in Yukon. This brings the territory’s total to 17 cases since the first case was announced on March 22, 2020.

Lab results confirmed the positive diagnosis on Sunday. Contact tracing has been completed and Yukon Communicable Disease Control (YCDC) has been in touch with all contacts. There is no increased risk to the public due to these cases.

The new cases are travel-related. The two individuals returned to Whitehorse after travel out of the territory and were self-isolating. They began feeling mild symptoms which were confirmed to be COVID-19. They are currently recovering at home.

This serves as a reminder that all people with symptoms, even if mild, should consider COVID-19 as a possibility; use the COVID-19 self-assessment tool and follow the testing advice.

The most common way that people experience the COVID-19 infection is with mild symptoms: cough, fever, chills, difficulty breathing or loss of sense of taste or smell. Using the “traffic light” guidance may also help to decide what to do for symptoms that resolve quickly for people who have not travelled.

Any person who develops these symptoms regardless of how mild, should self-isolate immediately and arrange for testing when available. Testing is available during normal operating hours of community health centres. In Whitehorse, testing is available at the COVID-19 Testing and Assessment Centre which is open seven days a week, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.