Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. [Translation] I spoke earlier in my Member's statement about the seniors and what kind of a program is there. We have been thinking about it. That is why I want to ask the Minister for seniors about what kind of a program is there for seniors. [Translation ends]
[Microphone turned off] ...month. I have some questions for the Minister responsible for Seniors. The first question I have is: what kind of programs exist for our elders' or seniors' care, more specifically in the area of verbal and physical abuse here in the Northwest Territories? Masi, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Monfwi. Minister responsible for Seniors.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Part of the mandate and one of the priorities is we are working on that. Right now, we do have a hotline available for people to bring forth their concerns. We also have the work with NWT Seniors' Society who provide that information to us, and then we try to work with seniors moving forward. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Moving onto the question I have: we talk about integrated approach and interdepartmental collaboration, as well. I would assume that all are departments that work together, Justice, ECE, housing, and also, the Minister responsible for Seniors, pertaining to these issues that we are faced with. I would like to know, Mr. Speaker, are there inter-agencies in the communities that deal with these issues, such as senior abuse in the communities, and do all communities have these inter-agencies?
It's my understanding that there are inter-agency committees in some of the communities. Health is part of it, ECE, Municipal and Community Affairs, and Housing. They are there; they do have inter-agency meetings. I'm not sure about every community, but I know that there are a number of communities that have that group that works together.
The next line of questions is pertaining to enforcement. As you know, a lot of our communities, 10-plus communities, do not have RCMP detachments, so what is the process where an elder or a senior is being verbally or physically abused, especially in communities that do not have an RCMP detachment? What is the process?
There are a number of opportunities for elders to reach out. There are emergency protection orders that they can reach out to Justice with the Alison McAteer House, so they are able to go forward with that. They are also able to reach out to the NWT Seniors' Society to help them, and they would give them direction on where they go, as well as working with Health and Social Services staff; they are able to work with them, as well. There are a variety of opportunities. As well, I would also encourage them to reach out to leadership and get them to help them, too, because then they can direct them or help them get the support they need.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Monfwi.
Masi, Mr. Speaker. As you know, a lot of our community members, especially the elders and seniors, do not speak English, in my communities especially. Obviously, I would like to know if this Minister is committed to providing more of an enhanced educational awareness on programs that are available to our elders, to our seniors, in our language, whether it be broadcasted on CKLB or other programming, because a lot of elders don't know that these programs exist and, if we reach out to them, I think a lot of these issues can be prevented, Mr. Speaker. Masi.
I would like to thank the Member for that great idea. We will, and I have been working with my colleagues across here, been working to get that information. We do have the Seniors' Handbook, but we can work together to get it into the languages, and as well to try to get it out there in the news, and that, and working there. We are more than willing to work with my colleagues on that issue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I have learned one thing in this job, it's that persistence often gets you results. Considering that one third of NWT residents are at high risk of COVID-19, does the Minister have any projections of, if COVID-19 were to spread across our population, how many people would be hospitalized and/or die? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. I'm guessing the Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Using the data from the four most recent influenza seasons, there were two years with no influenza deaths and two years with a single influenza death each year in a row. The past four years, we have also had between 14 and 24 influenza-related hospitalizations and between two and seven ICU admissions. It is important to note that approximately 21 percent of the population receives the influenza vaccine, with greater than 50 percent coverage among those 65 years of age and older, who are typically at greater risk for severe disease.
In addition, antivirals for flu treatment are often effective. We do not have a similar treatment for COVID-19 at this time. General estimates are that both 10 percent of unvaccinated adults and 20 percent of unvaccinated children acquire influenza each season. The case fatality rate of influenza in adults is about one in 1,000, resulting in about 3,500 deaths in Canada each year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
That was some very helpful influenza data, and I will re-read the Hansard to try to understand it after. Perhaps it could be posted publicly. However, specifically, I'm not just looking for data on influenza; I'm looking for a projection of COVID-19 community spread across our population and the number of hospitalizations or deaths that could result from that.
COVID-19 is a new virus to everybody around the globe. Everyone is susceptible because none of us has had a chance to build our immune system up to it. Without a vaccine and without public health measures to reduce exposure, there is a high probability that the vast majority of NWT residents could acquire COVID-19 in the coming months and years. However, with public health measures that we have in place, it's unlikely that all of the NWT's population will get COVID at the same time or in the same season. That is why it's so important that we stay the course and follow the public health advice and orders that are in place so that we can continue to contain the spread of COVID-19 and keep the curve flat.
The NWT has not experienced any community transmission, so we don't have the data to be able to model how COVID-19 might behave in the Northwest Territories if we did have community transmission, so our modelling efforts are being informed by the experience of places where community transmission has occurred, including those that are similar to the Northwest Territories, like northern regions in other provinces. This will help us get a more realistic idea of how the outbreak might spread.
What we know from other regions that are affected is approximately 80 percent of infections are mild enough to be managed at home; it's about 15 percent who are hospitalized; 5 percent require ICU; and approximately 1 percent die. In the Northwest Territories, this could translate to 450 deaths from COVID-19, so, in order to delay the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible, we put public health measures in place early, before there was any evidence of community transmission, and this has helped us contain the spread of the virus.
The idea of 450 residents across our very small population dying, I think, is truly a tragic figure that we want to avoid at all costs, and I'm happy to hear that we do not expect, given our public health measures, for everyone to obtain COVID at the same time.
My other question is: one of the main things we have been trying to do is to break the wave, to prevent a surge in our healthcare system. Do we have any current projections or idea of, if we get to that community spread where there are potentially hundreds of people dying, whether other deaths will be caused due to the surge on the healthcare system?
From the beginning of the pandemic, we have encouraged people to continue to seek care for their healthcare needs. It's important that we continue to support the healthcare and wellness of our population, including primary preventative care. We have made significant advances in virtual care to enable people to receive care closer to home. I will get back to the Member with the rest of this question.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I guess my request to the Minister is: I think if people hear that there are potentially 450 deaths, that statistic has numerous qualifiers and a bunch of underlying assumptions built into it. When we hear that 5 percent of people get COVID and end up in the intensive care unit, once again, there are a number of qualifiers, and that's a worst-case scenario based on all of the qualifiers you said. My request to the Minister: could we publish some sort of report or data or put this out with all of the information out? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. All the information we provided is good information, and it allows the people in the Northwest Territories to see how serious this pandemic is in comparison to the flu. Our department has good data and has the figures, and we would be able to provide that data publicly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In my statement, I mentioned that there is a strategic plan to create safer communities for older adults. This wasn't a government strategy, but government was at the table along with various stakeholders for the seniors community. Are the strategy's recommendations still on the government's radar? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife Centre. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Can the Member repeat the question? Thank you.
My questions are for the Minister of Health and Social Services. In my statement today, I mentioned there is a strategic plan to create safer communities for older adults. This wasn't a government strategy, but government was at the table along with other stakeholders from the seniors community. My question for the Minister is: are the strategy's recommendations still on the government's radar?
The NWT Network to Prevent Abuse in Older Adults that the Member is referring to is comprised of representatives from non-profit organizations, service providers, Indigenous groups, and GNWT departments. The Department of Health and Social Services provides funding to the NWT Seniors' Society to support the Network to Prevent Abuse in Older Adults, and also to promote public awareness around recognizing the abuse, preventing, support and programming.
With the funding we provided to them, the NWT Seniors' Society is making progress, so yes, we are doing the work on three strategic priorities. The public education, like the Member mentioned in her statement, public education, education and training, community responses that are all recognized in the strategy, and yes, we are continuing to do the work together.
Thank you to the Minister for that response. The strategy included three recommendations directed to government. The first is to implement a centralized data reporting system for all cases of abuse of older adults in the NWT. Is there such a data reporting system in place at this time?
I am not aware. The Member did mention that this is their report and this is their progress, so I'm not sure if there is data that is related to that.
Thank you to the Minister for that. This recommendation was aimed at government to set up a centralized data reporting system. Another of the recommendations was to research the need for legislation which would protect older adults from abuse. Is this something that is anywhere on the government's radar?
The GNWT is committed to supporting the ongoing work to protect seniors from abuse and providing, again, ongoing funding to support this network. We are committed to working actively as members of this NWT network so that we can continue to prevent the abuse of elders, and also looking to explore the renewal of this network strategy.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary. Member for Yellowknife Centre.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for that. The Minister said that there was a possibility that this strategy would be renewed. Now is certainly the time. It was a 2015 to 2020 strategy. Can the Minister tell us what steps she is planning to take with stakeholders to renew this focus on elder abuse? Thank you.
In addition to the work that is specific to seniors, the department is also taking steps to address and reduce the family violence in general. The department has looked at the strategy. It is coming up for expiry, and I did mention that we are looking to work together, and that is something we will look at. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. One of the most common questions that I get from constituents right now is in regards to family unification and being able to visit with family in the Northwest Territories. I am wondering if the Minister of Health and Social Services can speak to instances where family is allowed to come to the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Member for Kam Lake. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When the COVID virus came, when it started happening all over the world, the GNWT took extreme measures to ensure that we restricted a lot of things, and that meant closing down some of our long-term care centres, and that meant putting restrictions in place. I look back, and a lot of family were not able to visit, and that was hard for a lot of families because we weren't allowing them into the long-term care centres. You look at some of the places now, and there are innovative ways where we can allow visits that are safe to our elders and seniors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
One of the most common reasons that people reach out for wanting family members to come north is because of compassionate exemptions for childcare. A lot of people are still working, schools are closed, and childcare is very expensive in the Northwest Territories, and so they are looking to have family members come north to provide childcare assistance. I'm just wondering, what is the proper way for people to request these exemptions through the Department of Health and Social Services?
There are two public health officers to put orders in place, however, within the orders, there are exemptions. One of the exemptions is to make an application to Protect NWT or call 8-1-1 and request the exemption for families to be able to reunite, especially in the situation of childcare.
What is the anticipated wait time that somebody should expect to hear back from Protect NWT?
It varies. I talked in the House this week about how busy our Protect NWT is, and how busy our 8-1-1 is. We are getting to the tune of 1,600. I can't remember, but we are getting a lot of requests for exemptions, for complaints, for enforcement, border control. Our Chief Public Health Officer mentioned that it would take anywhere between five to 10 days for a response. With that, I ask residents and people who are coming to the Northwest Territories to plan ahead. You can't expect to just file your self-isolation plan and expect to know in a day or two. It does take time. If people are travelling around, you should file your plan as soon as you know. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Final supplementary, Member for Kam Lake.
Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Though I appreciate that, I know that a lot of GNWT employees were redeployed to help out Protect NWT, and I definitely appreciate that they volunteered for that. I'm wondering, given that there is such a desire for people to find out more information about this, if the Department of Health and Social Services is willing to put this information online so that residents can have easier access to how to go about this process. Thank you.
