Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Throughout the course of COVID-19, I have made multiple requests to see some data regarding COVID-19. I have made requests to see modelling, and I have still have not seen those. The type of data I am looking for is really not the kind of thing that I think should be asked on the floor of the House, but I will ask.
We have consistently heard that one of the risks of the Northwest Territories is we have a lot of immunocompromised people and respiratory illness, so my question to the Minister of health is: how many people in the NWT are projected to be at high risk or immunocompromised? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Yellowknife North. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Right now, we are looking at about a third of the residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
I find that a truly terrifying statistic, and I am a little concerned that it took this long for me to hear that one third of our residents are in that category, because I really do think it shows the significant risk we are at. One of my other concerns is that there is a lot of different data out there showing how deadly COVID-19 is and what actually its effect on a population are. I'm not looking for specific modelling. I'm looking to get a sense of, given there is one third of our population at risk, and based on the number of people in the Northwest Territories, if COVID-19 is spreading across the Northwest Territories, how many people would we expect to be hospitalized and/or die?
I don't have that level of detail right now, but I will get back to the Member.
Yes, I would appreciate if that level of information could be made public. During one of our briefings, I asked the Chief Public Health Officer, and she started to lay out a formula of how you could take a set of the population, and what we know about COVID-19, and then project hospitalizations. It's that kind of information I'm looking for. It's certainly not information I am capable of understanding or providing, so I would really appreciate if the Minister could follow through with that commitment.
Another one of the main concerns I have had is that I still don't have a full understanding of the risk. If we have community spread of COVID-19, there is going to be a set number of hospitalizations and deaths due to COVID-19, but there is also the risk of a surge on our healthcare system. Can the Minister try to give me a sense of what the risk of deaths due to unrelated-to-COVID illnesses that would not be treated due to a surge?
Yes, we will look into that and provide that detail to the Member.
Thank you, Minister. Final supplementary, Member for Yellowknife North.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate that the questions I'm asking are highly technical, and I have resorted to asking them on the floor of the House because, after numerous requests, I have not got that data, so I'm really looking for some concrete numbers.
I don't believe it is a fair comparison to compare COVID-19 to the flu, based on everything I know. I also know that flus have flu shots, which significantly reduce the number of people who get the flu, but I have made this request previously, and I am looking to get a sense from the Minister of how many people require hospitalization in the average flu season in the NWT or how many die from it. I think that would be a fair comparison to COVID-19, and ultimately, I would like data that shows that, but if I could get a sense of what a flu season looks like in the Northwest Territories, as compared to the worst cases of COVID. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
We do have those numbers prepared, and I can get back to the Member with those. Thank you.
Thank you, Minister. Oral questions. Member for Kam Lake.
