COVID-19 Daily News Digest – January 15th, 2020
Crisis at the camps: B.C.’s COVID rules for industrial sites too little, too late, critics say
“We now have our first Elder in ICU in hospital because of an LNG worker — it was just a matter of time,” said Sley’do Molly Wickham, a member of the Gidimt’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation, upon whose territory the Coastal GasLink pipeline is being built.
“More and more Wet’suwet’en people are getting [COVID],” she added. “Most of the cases I know of have gotten it directly from somebody who works at LNG Canada or somebody that works on the Coastal GasLink project.”
Nunavut municipality holds cash draw for vaccinated residents
The municipality is encouraging residents to get vaccinated by offering cash prizes.
Residents of the central Nunavut hamlet of about 3,000 people can win one of five $2,000 prizes for getting the shot.
“It’s to entice people to get inoculated,” Arviat Mayor Joe Savikataaq Jr. said. “It’s a very small price to pay in order to get herd immunity here, in case we get a second wave.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/nunavut-cash-draw-covid-vaccinations-1.5872160
Essential medical trips playing role in northern COVID-19 exposure
Residents of northern and remote communities in Manitoba must travel to larger cities, usually Winnipeg and Thompson, for many non-COVID-related medical appointments. Some of that travel has allowed the novel coronavirus to spread in their home communities, the same way some patients returning from essential medical trips brought home H1N1 in 2009.
“Thompson has seen another resurgence of COVID, so when people leave the community for reasons (of) medical travel or for essential purposes, sometimes they’ll acquire it and bring it back to the community. And for sure, overcrowded housing is a big risk factor.”
Vaccine must heal body, little bit of soul
She said she is not getting the vaccine until, in her words: “It’s proven effective.”
I asked her what she meant, thinking she was echoing concerns about testing, allergies or some other issue involving the roll-out of the drugs.
“No, my boy,” she said. “I mean I’m wondering if it will heal.”
The message is medicine must address more than the physical body. It must also address the needs of the mind, heart and spirit, too.
Feds pledge another $1.2B as Indigenous communities ravaged by second wave
An online statement says ISC has announced over $4.2B in specific COVID-19 support to Indigenous and northern communities and organizations as of December 18.
Valerie Gideon, senior assistant deputy minister for the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch of ISC, says the money to date has enabled Indigenous communities to take charge of their unique pandemic responses and to be less dependent on outside support.
“They are the one’s that have identified those needs and they are the one’s that have driven appropriate responses in their communities,” Gideon said at the press conference.
Doses of COVID-19 vaccine expected in 60 B.C. First Nations by next week
“We have shortages when we compare our priority lists to what’s been made available at this point from the province or through our partnership with regional health authorities, but we’re not alone in that.”
The First Nations Health Authority is not responsible for delivering vaccine to Indigenous people living outside their home communities, said McDonald, explaining they would be served by regional health authorities.
“We would not be directly providing those vaccines, but we may be participating in partnerships to make sure that the distribution is done in a culturally safe and accessible way,” she said.
More than half of Manitoba’s 261 new COVID-19 cases are in the north
Atwal did not rule out the possibility that stricter restrictions could be left in place in northern Manitoba and rules loosened in other regions when provincewide public health orders expire next Friday. Those rules include bans on most gatherings and the sale of non-essential items.
“Everything is on the table,” Atwal said. “It’s going to be based on risk, based on epidemiology, based on a number of indicators.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-covid19-update-1.5873127
COVID-19 cluster identified at Esk’etemc First Nation at Alkali Lake
“We’re still swabbing a lot of community members,” Robbins said Wednesday evening (Jan. 13) from his home in Esk’et.
So far 18 positive cases had been confirmed with more expected as test results are still unknown for 51 of the 97 swabs collected.
The first COVID-19 case in the tight-knit community of 650 members in 135 homes was identified earlier this month.
COVID-19 was third leading cause of death in South Dakota in 2020
November proved to be the deadliest month for the state, as deaths doubled from 711 in 2019 to 1,427 in 2020. December’s death data is still provisional, but Journal tracking of daily DOH data shows 521 people died of COVID-19 in November and 542 people died of COVID-19 in December.
The COVID-19 death rate among Indigenous people was the highest of any other race, at 215 per 100,000. COVID-19 Death rates among white people was at 129.5 per 100,000.
Seabird Island to receive COVID-19 vaccine in the coming weeks
“The health authorities can call Seabird at any time to tell us, with just a few days notice, that they have a date for Seabird to get the vaccine,” Chief Harris said. “We don’t want to miss our opportunity for the vaccine.”
All Seabird Island members 18 years of age and older, including both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people living in the community, will be able to register for the vaccine. More information on how to register will be shared by the band in the coming days.
Racism towards Cowichan Tribes in COVID-19 fight is denounced by federal minister
Miller says recent comments posted online urging businesses in the Duncan area not to serve Indigenous customers are “disgusting” and “unacceptable.”
He says Canadians do not support such behaviour and he backs local leaders and residents who have spoken up against racism.
Releasing more data around First Nations COVID-19 cases won’t combat racism: B.C. officials
“We have no control over what the province or the regional health authorities report publicly,” Dr. Shannon McDonald, acting chief medical officer with the First Nations Health Authority, said Thursday.
“The detail of the local appearance of COVID cases has been less frequently reported and that can be a challenge.”
Eight new COVID-19 reported by TBDHU
Two of the eight cases are from travel outside Northwestern Ontario, according to numbers provided by the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.
Over the past 10 days 11 of the 91 reported cases have been travel-related, a 12 per cent share.
Of the eight new cases, four are from Thunder Bay and surrounding areas, one related to the outbreak at the Thunder Bay District Jail, while two are from district communities and two live in First Nations communities, where there have been 23 cases reported since April 6.
https://www.tbnewswatch.com/local-news/eight-new-covid-19-reported-by-tbdhu-3260864