Officials with the Northern Health authority announced on Friday that the COVID-19 outbreak on Haida Gwaii is over.
The announcement comes nearly a month after the last case in Haida Gwaii was reported on August 6. Northern Health officials also indicated last week that all of the 26 outbreak-related cases had fully recovered.
The outbreak was declared back on July 24 and, in an information bulletin posted on Northern Health’s website on Aug. 28, it states that there are no longer any active cases on Haida Gwaii at this time.
“Public health officials are now confident that there are no further chains of transmission of COVID-19 related to the outbreak,” reads a statement in the bulletin.
Northern Health officials highlight that they’ve worked alongside the First Nations Health Authority, Council of the Haida Nation and municipal governments on Haida Gwaii to ensure a coordinated community response amid the outbreak.
Northern Health is also reporting that none of the 26 COVID-19 cases required hospitalizations or relocation for self-isolation needs.
Although all the cases have fully recovered, health officials outline that there may be still individuals self-isolating for a variety of reasons
Despite the outbreak being declared over, Northern Health is still advising the community to self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19.
According to the information bulletin, the medical work amid the outbreak has been guided by B.C.’s collaborative framework that ensures people living in rural, remote and Indigenous communities have access to critical health care to meet their unique needs.
Graham Cox
