'Staying calm:' Nunavut's top doctor trying to keep Far North safe from COVID-19

Dr. Michael Patterson, Nunavut's chief public health officer, poses for a portrait in the boardroom outside his office in Iqaluit, Nunavut, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. As the territory's chief public health officer, he leads the team responsible for keeping COVID-19 out of Nunavut's 25 communities.

Since late March, only Nunavut residents and critical workers have been allowed into the territory. And anyone who leaves Nunavut must complete a 14-day isolation stay in a designated hotel in southern Canada before returning. If they don't, they won't be allowed back into the territory. "Even on the last or second last day before we made the announcement, there was still that second-guessing if this is the right decision to make ... but at that point we felt that we had no choice."

As the face of Nunavut's COVID-19 updates, which are televised across Nunavut's three time zones, Patterson is known for his calm and collected attitude. Patterson grew up in Selkirk, Man. As a young man, he says his dream was to join the military. He ended up joining the reserves as a medic, where he says he first became interested in medicine.While in medical school, he worked as first-aid teacher in Naujaat, in western Nunavut.

In his free time, Patterson says he likes to read. He also picks up his guitar on occasion, an instrument he's played since he was 17.For Patterson, the pandemic has highlighted Nunavut's infrastructure gaps, from health care to housing.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

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