Vast Spaces Leave Canada’s Remote and Rural Places Vulnerable in COVID-19 Fight

Flags of Iqaluit, Canada and the territory of Nunavut fly over the Elders' Qammaq, a drop-in centre, as Nunavut enters a two week mandatory coronavirus disease (COVID-19) restriction period in Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada November 18, 2020. Reuters/Natalie Maerzluft/File Photo

WINNIPEG/MONTREAL—The coronavirus pandemic is racing through Canada’s remote and rural regions, as isolation, a crucial buffer during the first wave, left their limited healthcare systems vulnerable once the virus arrived.

The latest spread opens a new front for the world’s second-largest country by area as it prepares for a logistically difficult vaccination program with COVID-19 infections now threatening to overwhelm hospitals.