Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. has no doubt that the people in his community will rise up to meet the challenge of Covid-19 now that it has arrived in the Kivalliq region.

As of Sunday, Arviat had 14 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and Rankin Inlet had two cases. All those infected with the virus are reported to be in total isolation and doing well, according to Nunavut's Department of Health.

Savikataaq said the continued safety and health of the people in his community immediately came into his mind when he first heard of a positive case being determined in Rankin Inlet.

He said luckily Arviat had a head start on the situation due to an emergency meeting of its hamlet council on Remembrance Day.

SA国际影视传媒�We met as soon as we heard of the positive case in Rankin and council decided to, basically, revert to the mode the community was in this past March and April,SA国际影视传媒� said Savikataaq.

SA国际影视传媒�So we started this procedure two days before we officially went code red with our own first confirmed case.

SA国际影视传媒�To be honest, I had held onto my own personal hopes of this not coming here because the efforts the Government of Nunavut (GN) had put into place were proving to be very effective.

SA国际影视传媒�But, I guess, it was just a matter of time here because of our close relationship with Winnipeg and the number of positive cases that have been recorded there per capita.SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said everyone has a role to play in this pandemic.

And, he said, everyone has a duty to do what they can to protect themselves and their fellow community members.

SA国际影视传媒�We shouldn't always rely on someone above us such as the hamlet or the GN to see us through things. Everyone has to do their part to protect the public, themselves and their families.

SA国际影视传媒�Our community here is just amazing. It's the friendliest community in Nunavut. As soon as they heard about the case in Rankin, even before the council held our emergency hamlet meeting on Nov. 11, people in our community were already wearing their masks at the stores.

SA国际影视传媒�This is important to note because they were doing this without (hamlet council) telling them to do so SA国际影视传媒� or someone above us telling the community to do it.

SA国际影视传媒�It was just automatic because, basically, the people of our community have become hard-wired about it now. They've been preparing for its arrival and they've been ready for it.SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said now is not the time for Kivalliqmiut to harbour fear and be scared of the situation as it unfolds.

He said now is the time to be vigilant in taking all the necessary precautions to stop the spread of the virus.

SA国际影视传媒�We've been ready for this and now it's time to put all our precautionary measures in place and not slack off from them at all.

SA国际影视传媒�I've already been on local radio here to ask people to remain calm, not spread any rumours that they may have heard and not point their fingers at anyone.

SA国际影视传媒�Like my dad said, everyone should use that energy to help other people, not to criticize other people.

SA国际影视传媒�I don't have Facebook myself, but I've heard there's been all kind of rumours flying around on it, and now is certainly not the time for people to get caught up in it and believe everything they're reading on that.SA国际影视传媒�

Savikataaq said it's human nature for people to want to know who has tested positive for the virus in case they've been in contact with them.

SA国际影视传媒�It's a form of reassurance, I suppose, for the people who can say they haven't been in contact with that person. At least I'm assuming that's why people want to know specific names as to who has tested positive for Covid-19.

SA国际影视传媒�I can understand that line of thinking, but there's a fine line between public safety and privacy laws. That can be a difficult thing to balance but, I think, the contact tracing will take care of that as long as we all remain calm, vigilant and patient.

SA国际影视传媒�We have the tools to stop the spread of this and I believe the people of Arviat will do exactly that.SA国际影视传媒�