the transmissions were believed to have occurred before the infected people entered the territory. on september 28, the presumptive positive cases at hope bay mine increased to seven. on october 1, one employee from the meliadine mine tested positive for the virus. on october 5, nunavut confirmed seven of the hope bay cases, although whether they would count as the territory's first official cases was still being determined. the same day, it was announced that restaurants and bars could increase to 75% capacity with social distancing, bars could return to normal hours; outdoor gatherings could increase to 100 and indoor to 15; arenas and recreation facilities were capped at 50 people; and galleries, libraries, and museums could operate at half capacity. nunavut declared the hope bay outbreak contained on october 8, with 10 confirmed cases and six still presumptive; the territory did not count the cases as part of its local total, as they fell under the case counts of the individual employees' provinces or territories of origin. on october 21, another presumptive case at the mary river mine was confirmed to be positive. november 2020–present on november 6, nunavut confirmed its first case, in sanikiluaq. all non-essential businesses and schools were ordered to close, grocery stores were ordered to limit capacity and reduce hours, indoor gatherings were prohibited, outdoor gatherings were limited to five, and non-essential travel into and out of the area was restricted. two days later, a second confirmed case was reported in sanikiluaq. on november 9, patterson stated that a person had tested positive at an isolation hub in winnipeg. it was thought that the person contracted covid-19 before entering the isolation hub. on november 11, a third case was confirmed by patterson in rankin inlet. as a result, restrictions were implemented in the kivalliq region, and local schools and colleges announced they would close for at least 14 days. on november 13, a case was reported in arviat, and on november 14 another four cases were found in arviat, doubling the total to eight. on november 15, nine new cases were reported in arviat, and a second in rankin inlet on november 16, after announcing eight new cases (bringing the territory's total to 26), patterson announced that a two-week restriction period would be implemented territory-wide from november 18 in order to control community transmission in nunavut. all gatherings were limited to five people unless otherwise noted, while non-essential businesses, bars, dine-in restaurants, personal care facilities, and schools were ordered closed. all businesses and organizations were required to switch to remote work if possible. medical centres would serve emergency patients only. masks remained strongly recommended territory wide, but as before, were mandated only in kivalliq and sanikiluaq. premier savikataaq referred to the restrictions as being like " circuit breaker, a chance to reset. no one is above the rules here. let's make this clear, so there's no misunderstanding. do not visit, do not socialize outside your household." in an interview with ctv news channel's power play, premier savikataaq stated that all of the cases so far had a connection to winnipeg, that community transmission in nunavut was of concern due to overcrowding within its communities, but that "our saving grace is we've had time to prepare." on november 17, a further 34 new cases were announced, more than doubling the total number of active cases, from 26 to 60. there were 26 new cases reported in arviat, and eight in whale cove. the government stated that seven of the people in whale cove were infected by a person travelling from arviat. on november 18, another 10 cases were reported (totaling 70), with eight in arviat and two new cases in rankin inlet. on november 19, four new cases were announced in nunavut: three in arviat and one in rankin inlet. these were followed by another ten new cases on november 20: six in rankin inlet, one in arviat and three in whale cove. this brought the total cases to 84. on december 20, the territory's first two deaths linked to covid-19 were reported; one resident of arviat and one resident of rankin inlet died in a winnipeg hospital. the first vaccine, of moderna type, arrived in iqaluit on december 30 and was administered on january 6, 2021. in may 2021, the mary river mine announced an outbreak, and shut down operations, sending many employees home. 106 employees tested positive, 96 of whom were positive with the delta variant, a highly transmissible variant of the virus. the workers who returned home are believed to have spread the virus from the mine, including the delta variant, and have been linked to several hundred cases in ontario, alberta, and elsewhere. however, since the mine employees have not been in contact with local communities since the start of the pandemic, there has been no spread in nunavut linked to the mine. the mine has had no positive cases since june 5. the territory reported one new case on december 6, 2021; the first since october 19, 2021. the territory's active case count is now one. one new case was reported in nunavut on december 8, 2021. there are now two active cases. on december 23, 2021, health officials confirmed one new case, bringing the active case count to three. on january 18, 2022, officials reported 140 new covid-19 cases since its last update on january 14, 2022, bringing the active cases to 268. response travel restrictions on march 13, patterson issued an advisory requesting residents reduce domestic travel and avoid international travel. transport canada announced the same day that cruise ship traffic to nunavut would be suspended for the remainder of the season. starting march 25, air entry into nunavut by non-residents was prohibited, with exemptions granted for critical medical workers. residents returning to the territory are required to quarantine for 14 days at a hotel in either edmonton, ottawa, winnipeg, or yellowknife before flying back. they are monitored by security guards enforcing the quarantine, and are provided with meals. these services are paid for by the government; on may 6, premier savikataaq backpedalled on a proposal to require these hotel stays be covered by the traveller (at a cost of $2,100 per person), as "travel at this time is a risk and we don't want to undo all the hard work we have done." exceptions were later made for those receiving medical treatment in yellowknife. the travel advisory against in-territory travel ended june 1, but other restrictions remained. on june 4, patterson said he was in discussions with officials from the northwest territories over the possibility of removing restrictions on travel between nunavut and the northwest territories. he noted that such an arrangement would have to be designed so that it would not be usable as a loophole to bypass nunavut's quarantine requirements. the canadian civil liberties association issued a letter to minister of justice jeannie ehaloak questioning whether the territory's travel restrictions were in compliance with section 6 of the canadian charter of rights and freedoms. on june 11, after the northwest territories partly loosened its travel restrictions (which previously contained a similar quarantine hub requirement and restriction to residents, in favour of allowing unrestricted travel — subject to self-isolation on arrival) as a result of similar concerns, patterson stated that based on the opinion of lawyers, the decision to suspend freedom of movement was allowable under the charter due to the emergency declaration. he argued that the measure was needed due to the stronger impact that an outbreak could have in nunavut than in other parts of the country. in regards to the decision's impact on the proposed "travel bubble," patterson stated that they were "still interested in it but we want to understand how this will impact potential risks before we make a firm decision one way or another." on june 15, it was announced that travellers from the northwest territories would be allowed to enter nunavut, provided they had been in the region for at least 14 days before entering and had received approval from nunavut health officials. on june 22, medical travel to churchill, manitoba was exempted from nunavut's quarantine requirements, citing a low risk because there had been no cases in the town. on july 13, it was announced that restrictions on travel to churchill would be lifted, but subject to approval by health officials. on november 16, the northwest territories suspended its open borders with nunavut due to the latter territory's first ongoing outbreak. by hamlets on april 30, chesterfield inlet passed a motion prohibiting any outside visitors from entering the hamlet. it also required returning residents to self-isolate for 14 days. in may 2020, to reinforce social distancing laws by discouraging gatherings, a number of hamlets began to institute temporary restrictions on any consumption, possession, or distribution of alcohol. impact the pandemic is projected to have a major impact on the territory's $300 million tourism industry. the cruise line industry could potentially be severely affected. previous years saw 55 ships with over 10,000 visitors.