COVID-19 Daily News Digest – June 28, 2020
How to build a better Canada after COVID-19: Transform CERB into a basic annual income program
Basic income has become the Swiss Army knife of social policy. Beyond offering sufficient income to manage the daily expenses of living, advocates believe it will improve health and psychological outcomes, enhance distributive justice, mitigate the employment effects of automation, spur gender equality, create true freedom, improve the esthetics of existence and transform the relationship between people and work.
Indigenous people burn houses to protest disinfection in Chiapas
In Chiapas, it is estimated that some 26 of the 124 municipalities oppose fumigation, arguing that COVID-19 spreads in this way, explained the deputy director of preventive programs at the Chiapas Ministry of Health, Alam Campos Cruz.
B.C. First Nations keeping COVID-19 cases down: health officials
First Nations in British Columbia have been largely successful in keeping COVID-19 out of their communities by strictly following health guidelines and relying on the advice of elders about smallpox and tuberculosis that decimated Indigenous populations, say health officials.
Since Jan. 1, there have been 87 cases of COVID-19 among Indigenous people in B.C. and four deaths, a rate below the provincial average, Dr. Shannon McDonald of the First Nations Health Authority, said Friday.
https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/latest-news/bc-first-nations-covid-19-cases-down-2524626
Renewable Roundup: Indigenous Tribes of America – Part 1, Climate Change Impact
Climate change will affect American Indian tribes differently than the larger American society. Tribal cultures are integrated into the ecosystems of North America and many tribal economies are heavily dependent on the use of fish, wildlife, and native plants. Even where tribal economies are integrated into the national economy, tribal cultural identities continue to be deeply rooted in the natural world. As global warming disrupts biological communities, the survival of some tribes as distinct cultures may be at risk. The loss of traditional cultural practices because important plants and animals are no longer available may prove to be too much for some tribal cultures to withstand on top of the external pressures they have faced during recent generations.
Meet 3 Indigenous health-care workers helping keep Northern communities safe
Through the month of June CBC Indigenous has been sharing stories from Indigenous health-care workers across the country about their jobs, why they got into health care and how they have been responding to COVID-19.
Here are three workers from the North sharing their experiences.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/northern-indigenous-health-care-workers-1.5627373
Symbols of the system: Discovery Day is done, but the conversation is just beginning
“We can talk about getting rid of symbols, getting rid of relics and celebrating a history that’s rich with the work of Indigenous peoples,” said Tyler Edmunds, First Minister of the Nunatsiavut Government.
“That’s extremely important, but at the same time, the provincial government needs to work with us in the implementation of our land claims agreement.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/discovery-day-indigenous-leaders-1.5628589
First Nations Health Authority releases the numbers
Of the 5,434 who were tested, only 86 tested positive for the virus and only 42 of those cases were discovered in individuals living on reserve. The FNHA’s Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Shannon McDonald hailed those numbers as good news and will lay the foundation for continued measures to reduce contact.
Total of 86 First Nations members have tested positive for COVID-19
“The low impact of COVID-19 on Indigenous peoples in B.C. that we have seen so far is a result of ongoing collaboration and an unwavering commitment by community and health leaders to put appropriate measures in place to protect communities.
Saskatchewan’s First Nations, Métis and Northern Affairs minister denies flunking file
“For anybody to say that I don’t care about the north, they are just absolutely not telling the truth,” Lori Carr, who is the MLA for Estevan, told Canada’s National Observer on ThursdayAthabasca MLA Buckley Belanger has said Carr and her ministry “completely misread this whole file” in their approach to the pandemic in northern Saskatchewan, particularly in the northwest.
“In the darkest time, and facing this incredible and unique challenge of COVID-19, they were a no-show,” Belanger told Canada’s National Observer on Wednesday.