COVID-19 Daily News Digest – January 19, 2020
Covid 19 info in Cree from Thompson general hospital.,
Learn about COVID-19 in Cree, as Bighetty and Bighetty reports on the virus and current events, from Thompson, MB.
Indigenous Reporters Program helping shape new group of storytellers in Northern Ontario
Within three months, Ms. Nodin learned how to produce and host a six-episode podcast called Nshiime Voices, which means “younger sibling” in Anishinaabemowin. With the help of elder and language teacher Ira Johnson, Ms. Nodin introduces each episode of the podcast in Anishinaabemowin and ends it with a word of the week, such as paapiwin, or laughter.
Before the COVID-19 crisis hit, the JHR program involved sending journalism trainers to participating First Nations – oftentimes remote, fly-in communities – for 8 months to work with community members, usually youth, to build media literacy skills and publish or broadcast through local news websites and radio stations.
The pandemic forced the organization to pivot and offer training online, says JHR executive director Rachel Pulfer.
NDP calls for COVID-19 transparency
“If you were to release information on workplaces on an ongoing basis, then government would have a responsibility to protect workers,” he said. “If you were to release information on different cultural communities on an ongoing basis, the government would be responsible for having to invest in working with those communities to keep Manitobans safe.
Indigenous communities must have internet access on their terms
Broadband has become as essential as access to electricity. Minister Monsef was correct when she said: “High-speed internet is more than just a convenience.”
Some northern Ontario First Nations going back into lockdown, while others have kept borders closed
He says he feels for cities and towns in the north that are also wondering if COVID-19 is going to hit their communities, but don’t have the authority to close off roads like a chief and council.
“Probably wish they had more power than they have, because they have to wait for the premier to make these decisions,” says Allen.
Constance Lake took down its checkpoint in the summer, partly to help the strained mental health of the citizens, but also because keeping up a 24-hour border crossing is very expensive for a small First Nation.
Man freezes to death steps from Montreal shelter after public health makes beds off-limits
Now that shelter’s staff is speaking out against Quebec’s current regime of public health rules, which had forced them to kick the man out at night even when there were beds available. Montreal authorities say they had been trying to reopen the shelter at night, even if that didn’t happen in time.
The city has said there are enough beds in total for the homeless. In recent months Montreal health authorities have created hundreds of new shelter beds in response to the pandemic, including two hotels converted to temporary shelters.
Whether people are actually getting to those new spaces each night is a different question. Some of the city’s longstanding smaller shelters, with clientele who have been returning for many years, outfitted their spaces to accommodate people overnight in a way they hadn’t previously, as the Open Door did.
But some in this smaller group were then closed entirely or overnight when they were deemed not safe enough by COVID-19 standards. It’s unclear if their clientele are making use of the new beds elsewhere.
Stigma against Indigenous Peoples is a ‘social sickness
As communities work to stop the spread of COVID-19, Indigenous health experts say there is a “social sickness” that also must be addressed.
A new short animated video is aiming to educate the public on the stigmatization that’s faced by Indigenous communities in the wake of the pandemic.
The video, co-produced by the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health (NCCIH) and BC Northern Health, is titled “Healing in Pandemic Times: Indigenous Peoples, Stigma and COVID-19.”
Alberta pauses scheduling of first doses of COVID-19 vaccine, pushes back rollout to First Nations and seniors as supply runs out
Phase 1B, the planned vaccination of First Nations and Métis individuals aged 65 and older as well as seniors in the general population that are over age 75, which was expected to begin in February, has been put on hold until further notice.
Kenney said the delays are a result of the disruption of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine supply announced by the federal government last week.
He called it “doubly disappointing” that Canada will only get half its promised shipments from Pfizer over the next four weeks, while full shipments to European Union countries resume this week.
Manitoba Metis Federation partners with local firm to create COVID-19 testing site for Métis people
“The COVID-19 pandemic has been a long journey, and with the number of vaccines being earmarked for the Manitoba Métis community still up in the air, we are unsure when the light is coming at the end of the tunnel,” MMF president David Chartrand said in the news release.
“By offering this alternative, our Métis citizens can now get their test results done faster and return to work and running errands to support their family quicker.”
Garden Hill First Nation says outside help is needed to fight COVID-19 outbreak
As of Sunday night, Chief Dino Flett said the community has 269 active cases. According to the 2016 census, the First Nation has a population of 2,591.
“It’s trying times, we are starting to be more familiar with what’s going on with the virus, but the challenges are very high and we are doing all we can,” Flett said.
Flett said the community is in dire need of more nurses and medical supplies, as well as medevacs — or air ambulances. Because Garden Hill First Nation does not have a hospital, patients suffering from COVID-19 have to be flown to Winnipeg for health care, but currently there’s a backlog, he said.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/island-lake-garden-hill-first-nation-1.5878400
COVID-19 vaccination campaign across Cree territory underway
More than 3,000 vaccinations have already been administered across Eeyou Istchee, according to officials. That includes 1,200 advance doses sent to Mistissini and Oujé-Bougoumou, two communities currently dealing with outbreaks of the virus.
On Monday, local officials confirmed there are 26 cases of COVID-19 in Oujé-Bougoumou and 25 in Mistissini, up from last week.
“Vaccination is an important first step toward being able to finally put this pandemic behind us as a nation,” said Grand Chief Abel Bosum, who was vaccinated last week in Oujé-Bougoumou.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/covid-19-cree-vaccination-campaign-1.5878158
‘Operation Remote Immunity’ ramps up as Ornge prepares to vaccinate 31 fly-in First Nations
While the Ornge team has already completed a soft launch, by transporting the Moderna vaccine and providing it to some vulnerable populations in Sioux Lookout, Moose Factory, Attawapiskat and Fort Albany, the plan is to begin community-wide vaccinations in five First Nations starting Feb. 1 — just two weeks away.
A lot of the [healthcare providers] are going to be coming in from southern Ontario and some of them haven’t been up to northern Ontario, let alone some of the communities that they’ll be going into,” Durham said.
“At the end of the day, we are guests in these communities and we want to make sure everybody knows where they’re going, some of the history of Indigenous people in the communities, some of the current realities that the providers will be facing.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/operation-remote-immunity-1.5878114