COVID-19 Daily News Digest – August 1, 2020
‘Our data is not counted’: COVID-19 hitting Native Americans hard
“I would like to know who they are because I know people in my community, who have been tested; i know people in our tribal community, who have passed away because of COVID-19 and it’s not reported anywhere,” Hawk-Lassard said.
COVID-19 cancels Wyoming hunt amid Native American criticism
The mid-September hunt has raised millions of dollars for conservation-oriented causes but lately has faced criticism for associated ceremonies in which politicians including former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat now running for U.S. Senate, have worn indigenous women’s headscarves designating them as “losers” of the event.
Northern B.C.’s Tahltan Nation asks visitors to stay away during pandemic
The Tahltan Nation issued a travel advisory on Thursday, asking people to avoid unnecessary travel to the communities of Dease Lake, Iskut and Telegraph Creek.
“The consequence of spreading COVID-19 is too great given the limited access to acute medical care for residents along the remote Highway 37 corridor,” the advisory from the Tahltan government reads.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/tahltan-nation-covid-travel-advisory-1.5669167
JBS invests millions in Brazil to prevent COVID-19
JBS said it is confident that all of these measures are effective in protecting against and controling COVID-19 at its facilities and in ensuring the supply and offering of the highest-quality products to its clients and consumers in Brazil and worldwide.
“This is a mission that cannot stop, since food production is one of the essential activities for the population in the context of the COVID-19 crisis,” the company added.
https://www.feedstuffs.com/news/jbs-invests-millions-brazil-prevent-covid-19
Campaign launched in northwestern Canada to address impact of COVID-19 on families
“Family violence, substance use and child maltreatment may have increased within families due to an array of factors such as the reduction in child care, social isolation and general anxiety due to the pandemic,” the joint news release said. “These are difficult times for many Yukon families, but please remember that you are not alone and that supports are available to help you cope.
Government of Canada COVID-19 Update for Indigenous Peoples and communities
As of July 30, ISC is aware of these confirmed cases of COVID-19 for First Nations on reserve in provinces:
- 404 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19
- 32 hospitalizations
- 350 recovered cases
How I’m spending my summer: Making cross-cultural connections in health care
As she explains it, the main purpose of her project is to improve the overall health-care experience for Indigenous Peoples and their families. For example, find ways to improve health planning and translation, strengthen connections to spiritual and cultural advisers, and facilitate better communication between patients and the health-care system.
https://www.ucalgary.ca/news/how-im-spending-my-summer-making-cross-cultural-connections-health-care
Double blow to Colombian Amazon and Indigenous groups from armed militants, COVID-19
During the first month of quarantine, the Amazonian Institute for Scientific Research (SINCHI) registered 12,958 heat points, indicating fires, in Colombia’s Amazonian departments, marking a 276% increase from the same time last year. Corpoamazonia, the government’s sustainable development corporation for the southern Amazon, says this points to how illegal groups are taking advantage of the quarantine to continue with their operations.
Yukon First Nations general assemblies go online this year
The change means this weekend’s general assembly for Champagne and Aishihik will be mostly business, without the social and cultural aspects of past general assemblies.
Normally, citizens could partake in fishing derbies, horseshoe tournaments, and enjoy catered food after a long day of meetings.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/yukon-first-nation-general-assembly-covid-1.5669778
As opioid-related deaths in Yukon double, officials say COVID-19 pandemic is amplifying the crisis
The Yukon Coroner’s Service says 13 people have died from drug overdoses in 2020, with six of those occurring in June alone. Heather Jones, chief coroner, said eleven of this year’s deaths involved opioids.
That’s almost double the number of annual deaths related to the drug since 2016, when the opioid crisis made its way into the Yukon, she said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/opioid-death-toll-1.5670623
OP-ED: Seven minutes can changes lives forever
Canada, it is time to clean your house before you help and try to clean others’. You have sent funds to help female causes in other countries, yet you sit and watch us die. You watch us get killed and you do nothing.
To Martha, we will be here for you on the East Coast. To Chantel, to Rodney, to Brady, we will not forget.
Dene-based education plan in the works following education summit
Another big push is for land-based education,” she said, “that incorporates both traditional knowledge and values, but also incorporates the academic knowledge.”
“Everything is changing around how we can deliver education … and although we were looking at it before the pandemic, the stars have aligned,” she said.
“Land-based education provides the distance that you need, the space you need, to have a number of kids together and [to] be able to keep them distanced.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/dene-nation-education-summit-1.5671130
Navajo ‘Water Warrior’ drives miles during COVID to deliver to those in need
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived on the reservation, Zohnnie saw families and elders sheltering in place – and no one helping them to haul water they desperately needed.
“So I took up a PayPal and purchased a water tank, put it in the back of my truck and hit the road, and ended up doing that day after day,” said Zohnnie, who calls his group Water Warriors United.
Ecuador indigenous group holds hostage law enforcement, official desire return of corpse amid pandemic By Reuters
Users of the Shuar Kumay neighborhood insist that Alberto Mashutak did not die of COVID-19 and that they ought to be authorized to give him a common burial, said lawyer Marcos Espinoza, who signifies the group.
As the dispute escalated on Thursday afternoon, neighborhood associates took the two officers and an official with authorities of the state of Pastaza hostage, Espinoza explained in a phone job interview.
“It is a violation of collective and cultural legal rights and we are proposing… that a judge get the exhumation and the transfer of the entire body,” he reported.