One new case of COVID-19 was identified in the Yukon on Friday, originating from a recent international traveller.

“It seems like quite a while since we’ve had a new case to add to our list and somehow it always feels like a violation of our sanctified place in the territories,” Dr. Brendan Hanley told a news briefing Friday afternoon.

“But this is COVID; COVID is a virus that knows no borders.”

The Yukon now has nine confirmed cases and one active case, with eight fully recovered.

The ninth person is recovering at home, and no one has yet required hospital treatment for the virus.

As of Sunday night, 878 people had been tested and 13 tests were pending a result. These numbers will now be updated to yukon.ca daily.

Hanley explained that his office is now looking at pandemic criteria for relaxing restrictions.

The Yukon’s goal remains to delay, diminish or deflect completely a spread in the Yukon, he said, and Yukoners should remain vigilant in the fight against the virus.

He said the most recently discovered case had “been simmering for a while undetected.” That proves the importance of pretending the virus is

rampant in the community when taking safety precautions.

“The threat of COVID will not go away until our population is immune either from disease or from vaccine,” Hanley said.

“My goal, to be clear, is the latter and not the former.”

Within an environment of strict border control and safety guidelines, like physical distancing and hand-washing, Hanley’s office is considering a timeline for relaxation.

The World Health Organization has six criteria for reopening, Hanley explained. They include low transmission of the virus to a level of sporadic cases, sufficient treatment capacity, workplace safety measures, border measures, engaged communities and reduced outbreak risks.

“I think we’re well on the way, and I would say we can be very confident we will be able to meet those six criteria,” Hanley said.

There is still work to be done, however, in establishing confidence in health care capacity and continuing care measures.

“It’s a matter of continued planning to get us to that comfort level.”

Prioritizing which sectors reopen first will require collaboration with the rest of Canada, and national criteria will likely be established, Hanley said.

The chief medical officer provided an update to testing procedures in the territory. He explained that fewer tests are being conducted due to the end of the respiratory illness and influenza season, paired with fewer people travelling into the territory.

Testing criteria have now been expanded to prioritize people in rural Yukon and other high-risk populations.

The Yukon will soon receive a rapid testing machine, so urgent tests can be conducted locally.

The GeneXpert machine can produce a COVID-19 test result in 45 minutes.

The machine has been used globally to test for tuberculosis and other diseases in the last two decades, but was recently approved for coronavirus testing in mid-March.

The rapid test machine will be used to detect COVID-19 in patients who require urgent care, so physicians can make informed decisions while treating them.

Hanley said this machine will add to the Yukon’s testing capacity, but will not replace testing at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

There is some risk that the GeneXpert machine might provide less accurate results, Hanley explained. It’s likely that tests run through the machine will also be sent to B.C. for confirmation.

The machine is expected to arrive in the Yukon soon, but set-up, training and quality assurance will take several weeks.