COVID-19 Daily News Digest – November 21, 2020
527 new COVID-19 cases among Manitoba First Nations people in past week
The latest numbers, released Friday by the province’s First Nations Pandemic Response Coordination Team, bring the total number of COVID-19 cases involving First Nations people in Manitoba since the start of the pandemic to 2,155. Of those, 1,401 are considered active, including 531 cases on-reserve and 870 off-reserve.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/covid-19-manitoba-first-nations-527-new-cases-1.5810335
Indigenous communities struggle with COVID-19
Physician Director of Indigenous Physicians Association of Canada Dr. Mandy Buss explains how COVID-19 is affecting Indigenous communities at a high rate.
https://globalnews.ca/video/7474606/indigenous-communities-struggle-with-covid-19
Why this First Nations nursing home is keeping elders entertained with nerf guns
He was saying how much he missed being an avid hunter every year, and this year was kind of hard because he felt like he was truly missing out on something important,” said Barnes.
“It was so much fun. I’m sure a few might have enjoyed shooting me a little more than they should have. But, it was a really great time.”
In the last few weeks, they’ve also modified a popular penny fair to accommodate COVID-19 measures, held a photo shoot for all the female residents, a lip sync battle, and organized a game of Wheel of Fortune against the residents of the Oneida Long Term Care Facility.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/wikwemikong-nursing-home-elders-nerf-gun-hunting-1.5809899
Active COVID-19 caseload on northern Sask. reserves more than doubles in 7 days
“The overcrowding that is happening in our reserves and every reserve in Canada — and the poor housing conditions that we have in a lot of the units — contributes a lot to the fact that people, when they’re told to isolate, would have to isolate in their own home, which would have anywhere from six to 10 to 15 people,” Beatty said Friday.
New data released by the province on Thursday also shows some northern zones of Saskatchewan have recently posted the highest new daily case rates and daily test positivity rates in the province.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/saskatchewan-reserves-covid-19-1.5810394
“Hit us all at once’: Fond du Lac sees COVID-19 surge, lack of water
“It’s very difficult for families not to visit each other because in a small community like this, everybody loves visiting,” McDonald, who’s coordinating the community’s pandemic response, told The Canadian Press.
“There are people that are upset and people that are frustrated. The morale in the community is down.”
Ottawa Allocates More Covid Relief Funding For Alberta And Saskatchewan First Nations
“We’re currently looking at numbers that are close to four times the number of Indigenous people infected by COVID-19 during the first wave,” Miller told a news conference Friday, where he detailed $120 million in immediate funding for Indigenous communities suffering COVID-19 outbreaks in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
$120.37 million support-funding in question will be split between the Nations within Alberta and Saskatchewan, with Saskatchewan receiving $68 million in funding while Alberta will receive over $52 million. This money is being given in order to help the Nations that are in desperate need of assistance.
https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ottawa-allocates-more-covid-relief-042935836.html
Government of Canada COVID-19 Update for Indigenous Peoples and communities
The majority of the increases continue to be linked to private and public gatherings in settings where physical distancing and wearing of masks were not observed. Gatherings with individuals outside of your household without physical distancing carries a risk of infection and can lead to serious illness, endangering the lives of loved ones. The virus can spread very quickly especially where multiple households in a community are in close contact.
MPP pleased COVID has not decimated First Nations in Parry Sound-Muskoka
“The numbers have been ramping up the last month or so across Ontario, so I just hope that everybody remains vigilant and that continues. Obviously we want to see everyone in the area stay safe,” Miller said.
The MPP pointed to the Shawanaga First Nation, which erected barricades in the early days of the pandemic as an example of the territory’s leadership taking the situation quite seriously.
“You had to sign in. They had very tight controls going in and I believe they did screening as well. I think that certainly played a role in keeping that community safe,” he said.
Federal minister concerned about COVID-19 in Sask. First Nations
Miller said the money will go toward surge capacity, like providing food and shelter to people on First Nations reserves and in Métis communities as they weather the second wave of the pandemic.
In Saskatchewan, Miller said there had been 728 cases of COVID-19 identified on reserve of which 344 are currently active. Multiple nations in the province’s north are currently in lockdown in an effort to bend the curve of infections down.
Manitoba First Nations disproportionately hit by spiking coronavirus cases: IPAC
“We’re seeing high numbers in the ICU here in the province — some days it’s been up to 68 per cent of the ICU admissions,” Buss told Global News Morning Winnipeg Friday.
“That’s concerning because that’s a huge number compared to the population representation.”
‘First Nations people, we have these beautiful ideas’: Prince Albert teen tells cultural stories in community mural
Twist said the mural represents the importance of things like storytelling and family in the First Nations culture. The mural shows people taking fish to a family with a baby.
“The people feed the caretakers and the caretakers take care of the child. It’s just so important that we recognize that even though you’re not part of the family, you can still help in their growth,” said Twist
Yukon announces new quarantine rules, new COVID-19 case in Whitehorse
Yukon’s premier says as of Friday, everyone entering the territory other than critical services workers will be required to self-isolate for two weeks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Premier Sandy Silver also says the government no longer recommends any non-essential travel outside the territory.
He says exceptions will be made for residents of border areas including Atlin, Lower Post, Fire Side, Jade City, Fraser, Pleasant Camp and transboundary First Nations.