Northwest Territories reinstates mask mandate as COVID-19 cases surge

The Northwest Territories has reinstated its mask mandate amid a growing number of COVID-19 cases.

Masks will be mandatory in all indoor public spaces starting tomorrow morning.

The territory’s chief public health officer, Dr. Kami Kandola, says masks are one of the best protections against the Delta variant, which she says is spreading quickly across the region.

Kandola also extended a lockdown order in the communities of Colville Lake and Fort Good Hope until Sept. 4.

Most of the territory’s 226 cases are in those two communities, which have been in lockdown since Aug. 15.

This is the worst outbreak of COVID-19 in the territory, which reported its first death due to the virus earlier this week.