‘The virus doesn’t move, people move the virus:’ La Loche mayor says area dealing with 12 cases

The northern community of La Loche has grappled with positive cases of COVID-19, but is working to contain the area outbreak.

In an interview Wednesday with Saskatchewan Afternoon’s David Kirton, La Loche Mayor Robert St. Pierre said there are nine positive cases of COVID-19 in the community. Two of those cases are at the long-term care home in La Loche.

Additionally, the Clear Water Dene Nation, which neighbours La Loche, had three positive cases according to St. Pierre.

He says everyone is doing their part with social distancing, and they are anticipating the containment of COVID-19 within the community.

“It’s all contact tracing, they found the route of it, and they’ve made all the testing and (have) come back,” St. Pierre told Kirton.

“We’re just hoping that we can get through this little spell here without any more positives returning. People are still being tested because people have been in contact with each other and we’re just hoping that it’s being contained.”

St. Pierre explained that he knew the community had a problem following the first positive case of COVID-19, but they weren’t blind to the growing risk of the coronavirus.

“We’ve anticipated this from the last two months with all the news broadcasts going on around the world. We know this is a very serious situation that we’re faced with, and especially when you live in the north, such as our community. (It’s) a close-knit community.”

St. Pierre says the La Loche Community Health Centre has transitioned to a COVID-19 testing and assessment centre. He said the fear and anxiety within the community is on an increase because of the outbreak.

He said he is interested to see what Premier Scott Moe has to say within the next 24 hours, including the plans to Re-Open Saskatchewan.

“The north is starting to have increases in COVID-19, yet the province is ready to open up certain things,” St. Pierre said.

“We supported the province when they went through this. Now that we’re getting hit, it’s just like ‘okay, the north is hit, let’s carry on.’”

Throughout the process within the community, St. Pierre says he has been fielding many calls but did offer a reminder for all those dealing with COVID-19.

“The virus doesn’t move, people move the virus.”

He says health care professionals who were exposed to COVID-19 are currently self-isolating, and they are taking the precautions to ensure the community stays safe.

He added that the tests that have come back for the health care professionals have been negative, and said those results were a “blessing.”