Saskatchewan health officials working with Hatchet Lake to handle COVID outbreak

Leaders in Hatchet Lake are working with Saskatchewan health officials to handle the community's recent COVID outbreak.

Hatchet Lakeis located about 850 kilometres north of Saskatoon, near Wollaston lake.The outbreak was detected on June 28. As of Monday, about 96 confirmed cases have been linked to the outbreak.

Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority medical health officer, saidlow vaccine uptake in the community and dismissal of certain COVID protocols are sources of concern. He said that once the community complies with these protocols, it will help bring the current situation under control.

"One of the concerns is private social gatherings in the community and community members not complying with public health measures," he said. "So communication is also going out through different channels from the chief and council."

Ndubuka also noted that Delta variants have been found amongthe reported cases.

"The low vaccine uptake is a concern for us in the context of the variant of concern," he said. "Part of the strategy right now is to use every means to provide a door-to-door vaccination approach to encourage residents to get vaccinated."