Nunavut capital declares local state of emergency as COVID-19 cases rise
May 3, 2021 | 11:29 AM
IQALUIT, Nunavut — Iqaluit’s city council has declared a local state of emergency over rising numbers of COVID-19 cases.
The capital city of about 8,000 people has 81 of the territory’s 85 active cases.
Iqaluit reported its first case of COVID-19 on April 14, but the territory’s chief public health officer has said the virus is likely to already have been in the city a week before that.
Dr. Michael Patterson says the variant first identified in the United Kingdom is the only strain of the COVID-19 virus circulating in the territory.
