Possible COVID-19 exposure in Whitehorse and Dawson City

The Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Brendan Hanley has advised that Yukon Communicable Disease Control was notified Thursday evening by another jurisdiction that two people have tested positive shortly after returning home from a trip to Yukon.

The Chief Medical Officer of Health has completed a risk assessment and concluded that the risk to local people is low.

However, he is asking that Dawson City residents or others who may have been in the community between Monday, July 20, and Wednesday, July 22, monitor themselves for symptoms.

In addition, people who may have been at Integra Tire the morning of Monday, July 20, and Walmart the morning of Thursday, July 23, both in Whitehorse, should monitor themselves for symptoms.

The symptoms that can occur with COVID-19 are:  

 

  • fever;
  • chills;
  • cough;
  • difficulty breathing;
  • shortness of breath;
  • runny nose;
  • sore throat;
  • loss of sense of taste or smell;
  • headache;
  • fatigue;
  • loss of appetite;
  • nausea and vomiting;
  • diarrhea; and
  • muscle aches.

Anyone who develops any of these symptoms regardless of how mild, should self-isolate immediately and arrange for testing. Testing will be available this weekend from Saturday, August 1 to Sunday, August 2, specifically for any people with symptoms and who match the exposure dates above, as follows:

Whitehorse: People who developed symptoms after these dates who were in these locations should call Yukon Communicable Disease Control at 867-667-5080 to arrange for testing over the weekend.

Dawson City: People who developed symptoms after these dates who were in these locations should call Dawson City Hospital at 867-993-4444 to arrange for testing over the weekend.

People should identify as being in one of the above exposure locations.

People who were in these locations, but have no symptoms, are recommended to self-monitor for 14 days after their exposure. If they develop symptoms no matter how mild, they should self-isolate immediately and contact 811, complete the self-assessment tool or contact their health care provider.  

Media contact 

Patricia Living
Communications, Health and Social Services
867-667-3673
patricia.living@gov.yk.ca

News release #: 
20-215