Julie Green

Thank you to the Minister. My next question is: what resources does the department have to conduct contact tracing and what kind of training do staff need to participate in contact tracing?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. We've been told that testing and contact tracing is key to discovering and isolating COVID-19 cases. That has worked fine so far, but it's easy to see that it's more difficult if community spread of the virus begins. Let me start by asking how many tests of either the rapid or standard type the NWT has today? Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair. The Minister's comments are only relevant if the contracting is going to the North, and the Tlicho All-Season Road tells us how that can really not work in our favour. My follow-up question is: when does the Minister expect to reach an agreement with the government for the 100-percent funding for northern infrastructure? Is this something that's going to happen in the life of this Assembly, in the life of this fiscal year? What's the timing on that? Thank you.

What confidence does the Minister have that the revenue surpluses will be adequate for funding all three projects going forward? Thank you.

The point of the question is not only to point out the error, but also to point out that, in fact, these three projects are not all signed, sealed, and delivered. There still is an opportunity to choose a priority and to allocate the money to that. Is there any work going on in that respect? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for clarification. My final question is: who has access to these supplies? Is it only the medical professionals in Yellowknife and the regions, or are there other service providers who have access to the NWT stock of PPE? Thank you.

I appreciate that answer. I see that the onus is really on the federal government to come up with some kind of contingency fund to assist not only tourism operators but also sectors of the economy that are currently hurting. What kind of responsibility does the GNWT have in this circumstance other than connecting with the federal government to come up with those contingency plans?

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions are for the Premier. A month is obviously a long time in the life of the coronavirus outbreak. It has now become a pandemic and there are more cases in Europe than China. Can the Minister update us now on the impact of the coronavirus health crisis on the tourism industry in the NWT? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think that this is really a key point. People will want to know, and they're going to be asking us, as Members, where this case is. From my point of view, it would be better to be able to provide factual information than for the rumour mill to crank up on social media, that it's in one place, another place, it turns out it's in 10 places that it's not. I would appreciate the response on this.

We know that we're asking tourists to self-isolate for 14 days. Are we reaching those people in languages other than English? Are we talking to them, for example, in Cantonese or...

I appreciate that answer from the Minister of Health, but it's simply not good enough. If somebody feels that they have symptoms and they require testing, a two-day delay can result in a lot more exposure between them, their families, and the public in a grocery store or any other place. Can the Minister make a commitment to have at least one number that everyone can call 24-7 to talk to somebody in person about their symptoms?