An open letter from the mayor of La Loche is looking for answers from Premier Scott Moe in the wake of his positive test for COVID-19 Thursday.
Moe had visited the community, as well as Buffalo Narrows and Pinehouse, on Monday. The trip, which included Education Minister Dustin Duncan, and Minister of Seniors and Rural and Remote Health Everett Hindley, was for meetings, as well as to announce the location of a new school in La Loche.
Just days after the trip, Moe tested positive for COVID-19 on a rapid antigen test and announced he would be working from home and isolating for the next five days, as he was asymptomatic.
In the letter, Georgina Jolibois asked the premier why he did not perform a rapid antigen test before he left for La Loche.
Jolibois, who is also the NDP candidate in an upcoming provincial byelection, asked him to work with northern public health officials to ensure all potential close contacts were notified, and to provide a full list of communities in the north that were visited by the Premier, the Minister of Education and the Minister for Rural and Remote Health on the trip.
The letter received a response via social media from Moe. In the response, he noted that he had taken a rapid antigen test late Sunday, the day before his trip, and at that time the result was negative. After his positive test on Thursday, he notified all close contacts, as per the guidelines from public health officials.