Nunavut and N.W.T. plan to ease inter-territorial travel restrictions

Plans in works to allow residents of both jurisdictions to travel back and forth without self-isolating.

The Government of Nunavut is planning to allow the territory’s residents to travel to the Northwest Territories and return without having to self-isolate for 14 days.

The Government of Northwest Territories announced similar plans last week.

“We’re working out the logistics to ensure it doesn’t become a loophole or a way to avoid isolation if someone is coming from outside of N.W.T. but needing to get into Nunavut,” Nunavut’s chief public health officer, Dr. Michael Patterson, said at a news conference in Iqaluit on Thursday, June 4.

“We’ll announce it as soon as we have those details worked out.”

There are still no COVID-19 cases in Nunavut, while the N.W.T. has had five confirmed cases, all of whom have recovered.

Already, medical travel patients from Nunavut’s Kitikmeot region who get treatment in Yellowknife no longer have to self-isolate for 14 days before returning home.

Starting last week, the GN has lifted in-territory travel restrictions.

Nunavummiut can travel outside the territory, although it is not recommended; travellers are still required to quarantine for 14 days before they can return home.

The territory has now also given the green light to daycare centres to re-open, as well as territorial parks and municipal playgrounds. Outdoor gatherings of up to 25 people are also now permitted.

This week, Nunavut workplaces and retail outlets can re-open, as long as they have safety measures in place.