Yukon gov't lays out plan to loosen COVID-19 restrictions over next month
CBC
Premier Sandy Silver and Dr. James Talbot, medical officer of health, will give a COVID-19 update Thursday at 10:00 a.m.
Watch it live here, on CBC Yukon's Facebook page or tune in to CBC North Radio One.
On Jan. 26, staff and children of child care and early learning programs in Yukon were no longer required to report positive COVID-19 cases.
The territorial government also said it would no longer issue COVID-19 public exposure notices for those programs.
Until then, parents and guardians could check for possible COVID-19 exposures on the territory's website.
The government implemented the same measure with schools in mid-January.
"Doing this will allow principals to track absentee rates within their schools and notify [Yukon Communicable Disease Control] when there is an above average number of absences due to reported illness," Education Minister Jeannie McLean said during a news conference on Jan. 25 to address concerns around the changes.
"I know this feels like a dramatic shift. However, if there is an increased risk to the health and safety of students, or school staff, we will take the steps necessary to introduce additional health and safety measures."
The number of reported COVID-19 cases in the Yukon has dropped since mid-January. On Jan. 14, there were 479 reported cases and on Feb. 2, according to the Yukon government's COVID-19 website, there are 132 reported active cases in the territory.
However, public health officials have stated the true number of cases is likely higher due to rapid testing not being included in the count.
Health officials have also told Yukoners to assume they have COVID-19 if they have symptoms and to skip PCR testing.
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