Two Nunavut hamlets are asking visitors to stay away in efforts to help keep COVID-19 out of the communities.
Cambridge Bay and Coral Harbour want consultants, government workers or business travellers from outside the territory to reschedule any planned trips.
Cambridge Bay is home to about 2,000 people, about halfway along the Northwest Passage on Victoria Island.
It’s a popular stop for cruise ships and recreational sailors, as well a gateway to the central Arctic and home to a major research centre.
Coral Harbour’s 1,000 residents live on Southampton Island on the north entry to Hudson Bay.
Experts say Nunavut’s limited health infrastructure and often overcrowded, substandard homes make it a prime spot for infection to take hold and spread.
Federal Transportation Minister Marc Garneau today banned large cruise ship traffic in the Arctic.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 13, 2020
The Canadian Press
The Canadian Press
