Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Although the chief public health officer stated that the possibility of contracting HEP C, HEP B, and HIV is very low, to date have there been any confirmed cases within the Beaufort Delta? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Member for Mackenzie Delta. Minister of Health and Social Services.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, as the cohort of numbers are very low and they're specific to each -- like, the communities are so small, I am -- at this point, I'm not aware of how many of the residents that the Member is talking about have completed testing. And if there were any, you know, those are health -- private health medical records, and so that -- you know, I wouldn't be able to discuss those here freely on the floor of the House. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Informing the dental patients who may have been into one of these clinics, these specific dates is very crucial for their well-being and long-term health. What measures have been taken by the department or the health centres to ensure that all these patients have been notified and tested for these infections? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Mr. Speaker, the chief public health officer -- you know, the reason why the alert came out was there is -- they were notified of this, and there is a current investigation ongoing right now, an investigation that -- you know, that it wouldn't be -- I would not be able to speak to in the House as it's ongoing. But the reason why the chief public health officer did go out and do an announcement publicly right away was to be able to put the information out there so people could -- they didn't -- you know, they wanted to ensure that -- not everybody is on social media, not everybody -- and because dental clinics are private businesses and NIHB does provide dollars for them to the GNWT, it's going to flow through to pay for the travel for them to go into the communities. They do all their own billing and scheduling, and so to be getting -- like, the list doesn't belong to the health and social services or the department of health or NTHSSA or the clinic. It belongs to the provider themselves. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This will be my final question. Will the department be looking at alternative locations to send dental patients in order to take the stress off the Yellowknife dentists and to better accommodate patients when they're travelling? Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, yes, I did ask the NTHSSA to -- early when we -- you know, with the pressures that we were hearing of hotel rooms being full all the time, you know, that is impacting insured service patients that are flying down for doctors appointments because dental and everybody is flying into the capital, I did ask them to look at other options. That is currently being looked in right now. But clients who are NIHB can also work with NIHB directly if they can find appointments closer to home that's not here. And like I mentioned, in the Beaufort Delta a lot of our families travel to and from the Yukon. And those questions would be best directed to NIHB to see what they would be eligible if they were to drive and see a dentist and drive back, you know, so those -- those are out of the hands -- like, those are things that we don't -- we don't pay for. So -- but I have asked the department to see if there's a way that we could help and assist some work around. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you. Member for Mackenzie Delta.
Oral questions. Member from Yellowknife North.
