Yellowknifer out of Ecuador, but still not quite home

A Yellowknifer who feared he'd be stranded while on vacation in Ecuador in early March is nearly done with his mandatory self-isolation in Ontario — but still figuring out when he'll make it back to the North. 

When Stephen Petersen started his trip on March 5, there weren't any travel restrictions in place in Canada. 

That changed the following week when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the federal government would be closing many airports across the country and banning boats and cruise ships carrying more than 500 people from docking at Canadian ports until July.

Petersen says he acted fast to get out of Ecuador, travelling from the small beach town of Montañita to the capital Quito. 

Facing airport closures and limited flights, Petersen finally got on a repatriation flight from Quito to Toronto on March 27. 

May have been exposed to COVID-19: government

Petersen has been self-isolating at an Airbnb in Thunder Bay, Ont., not far from his sister, brother and mother. 

He says when he got there, he found out via a Facebook group that one of the passengers on his flight, AC1991, had tested positive for COVID-19. 

According to the federal government's website, people on that flight, along with 26 other international flights as of Thursday afternoon, may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus. 

Some of those flights indicate the specific row of seats affected, while others like Petersen's flight, simply say "unknown."

"I was quite upset that the embassy or the airline hadn't contacted me about that," Petersen said. "I felt that the government should have been a little bit more diligent about tracking people on that flight."

Petersen says his flight was full and though many passengers were wearing masks, there wasn't much of an opportunity to physically distance himself from other passengers. 

More self-isolation in Yellowknife

Petersen is hoping to drive back to the N.W.T. this month, and knows he'll have to spend another two weeks without leaving his house. 

According to the public health order issued by chief public health officer Dr. Kami Kandola, all residents returning to the territory must self-isolate for 14 days in one of the regional centres, and submit a self-isolation plan to the territorial government. 

He says that won't make a huge difference for him because officials are encouraging people to stay away from each other anyway. 

He just wishes he could spend some time with his 90-year-old mother in Thunder Bay, but doesn't want to take the risk. 

Petersen's mandatory quarantine ends Saturday.