COVID-19 Daily News Digest – December 13, 2020
First Nations communities hit hard by second wave, highest in the Prairies
According to the federal government, an evacuation of Shamattawa’s vulnerable community members such as elders is currently underway. Six Canadian rangers are also in the community and will stay there for 30 days to help those who are sick and isolated.
Nunavut is also seeing spikes in COVID-19 infections where 16 new cases were identified on Friday. The territory is waiting for the Health Canada’s approval of the Moderna vaccine before starting vaccinations.
“I am hopeful this will happen in the first quarter of 2021,” said Nunavut Premier Joe Savikataaq.
More military members may be headed to Manitoba first nation to help fight COVID-19 crisis, chief says
During a live update on COVID-19 among First Nations people, held on Facebook by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs over the noon hour Friday, Redhead said the community is just waiting for Ottawa to approve the mission.
“I haven’t had official approval yet but the (Indigenous Services) Minister says he’s reaching out to the defence minister now,” Redhead told the viewers of the event.
Fort St. James COVID-19 cases continue to ‘surge,’ overwhelm health system
Local paramedics are overwhelmed and a nearby First Nation is now in lockdown, following an outbreak of COVID-19 in Fort St James, northwest of Prince George
According to a statement from Northern Health Thursday, there has been a “surge” in confirmed cases across the region including “approximately 40 active cases in the First Nations and non-First Nations communities in the Omineca Region which includes Fort St. James.”
N.W.T. expects 51K Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses in first 3 months of 2021
Between January and March of 2021, the territory expects to receive around 51,000 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine — enough to distribute to 75 per cent of the territory’s residents aged 18 and older.The territory’s Health Minister Julie Green made the announcement in a virtual news conference Friday.
“I know that residents are anxious to confirm who will be a priority in the first round, along with how and when it will be delivered. Work is well underway confirming this detail for immunization in each N.W.T. community,” she said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nwt-covid19-vaccine-update-december-11-1.5837933
Ontario sending York Region $8.1M in social services relief funding
Today, the Ontario government announced that York Region will receive an additional $8,134,700 in social services relief funding. The discretionary funding can be used to improve the delivery of critical services, protect homeless shelter staff and residents, renovate and purchase shelter facilities, add to rent banks, create longer-term housing solutions and support plans to prepare for potential future outbreaks and/or emergencies.
Rapid response team sent to Fort St. James as community grapples with 39 COVID-19 cases
The team of specialized paramedics was developed primarily to transfer patients between hospitals, and this is the first time it has been mobilized.
It was also apparently the first public indicator, even to residents of the small town of about 1,500, that transmission had gotten worse in the community.
There are now 39 confirmed cases in the area, according to provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix.
Traditional Center for Indigenous Knowledge and Healing continues mission through pandemic
“There are no organizations in our community, in Ithaca or Tompkins County, that actually support young people of color, especially Indigenous young people,” Maya Soto said. “That was my experience because that is the reality of where I live. And that was, I think in some ways, a traumatizing way to grow up, feeling that lack of community. I personally saw the Traditional Center as an opportunity to create that space for other young people.”
NP View: That many First Nations still don’t have access to potable water is a stain on our national character
“Much of the North really has Third World conditions with respect to basic services,” said the head of the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee. That was in 1991, after the Mulroney government pledged $275 million to provide safe drinking water and sewage systems to Indigenous reserves throughout the country, but it is just as applicable today.
It is to our national shame that many First Nations communities still don’t have access to potable water. That we have known about the problem for decades and failed to address it is a stain on our national character — one that Justin Trudeau and his Liberals made a lot of hay about addressing during the 2015 election campaign.
Local Indigenous youth benefitting from federal wage subsidy program
They’re pouring concrete, they’re learning all about how to do the construction trades,” Hamilton says. “It’s going to be in an area that’s going to be used to build tiny houses, it’s also going to be used for storage of equipment related to their food sovereignty program.”
The wage subsidy program is important because it provides a foot in the door, she says.
“It’s really difficult for people to get that first job and so this wage subsidy allows employers to give people a chance without having to have a degree, certificate, etc. And it helps them gain those skills, something they can put on their resume.”
How two Indigenous philanthropists have adapted to COVID-19’s chilling effects this winter
Given the pressing need, the IPRF teamed up with the Community Foundations Canada network to get the funds flowing quickly to organizations that may not qualify for registered non-profit status. (This blocks them from accessing most funds from major foundations, private corporations and government sources.) The money is presented to recipients as “gifts” or “bundles,” rather than grants