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All total, 369 people have been under investigation in the territory for COVID-19; 114 of them have been cleared, said Premier Joe Savikataaq, on Wednesday.

Still, there are challenges facing the territory: Nunavut depends heavily on Edmonton, Yellowknife, Winnipeg and Ottawa for medical care.

There’s one hospital in Iqaluit, the territorial capital, and there is no ICU capacity in the province. While Qaqqaq wrote that there are seven ventilators in the territory, Hickes said that most COVID-19 cases needing ventilation or intubation would need to be evacuated.

The biggest lesson of this is, act aggressively

Like the Northwest Territories — but unlike Yukon — Nunavut has more or less shut its borders to the rest of Canada. Air travel is the only way to get there. This, in part, made it easier for a travel ban to be put in place and maintained.

As of March 24, the province barred all non-residents from flying into the territory. There are also stringent measures in place for travel within the province, and for essential workers receiving clearance to come to the territory for work. As well, the territory has said that if there are positive cases confirmed, the community will be identified.

Said Savikataaq: “All over Canada now the problem is community infections … that’s the last thing we want here in Nunavut.”

Residents who have been in the south must self-isolate at government-designated quarantine sites in Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa or Yellowknife before they are allowed to return to the territory. As of April 7, Nunavut said, 431 people were isolated — 246 of them out-of-territory on medical travel.

“They’re under very strict self-isolation rules,” said Hickes. “At the end of the day, I think the majority of people acknowledge that it is for the safety of their communities, not just for themselves, and for the territory as a whole,.”

• Email: tdawson@postmedia.com | Twitter: tylerrdawson