In late March there had been no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Old Crow, but with no local doctor in the community and five confirmed cases in the territory there was a very real fear that someone with the infection could just show up in Yukon’s northernmost community.
And that’s exactly what happened.
Yep, these fears were realized when a frightened Quebec couple fleeing COVID-19 landed at the airport on March 27. The couple had just driven across the country, but hadn’t self-isolated for 14 days in Whitehorse before they boarded the plane.
Thankfully, Air North had adopted the new practice of emailing the passenger list of all incoming flights to the Vuntut Gwichin First Nation to help keep the community safe. A local Emergency Management Officer welcomed the couple at the airport to inform them they would be returning to Whitehorse on the next available flight. The RCMP assisted with the effort and the couple made it safely back to the capital, and nobody in the community got sick. Chief Dana Tizya-Tramm knows that if it wasn’t for the actions of the airline and the First Nation, the story could have been very different. Chief acknowledged the couple was scared and learned their journey was inspired by a dream, but with no local doctor, he says the dream could have ended in a nightmare. It was the policy of the airline and the great work of the EMO, the RCMP, First Nation leadership and also the Co-op (who kept the room that the couple stayed in off limits for four days after they left) that helped keep the community safe. A huge shout out to all of these Community VIPs.