Covid-19 Daily News Digest – October 3, 2020
First Nation staffer offers a familiar face to COVID-19 patients
Karamujic has 10 years of experience working for the Nation. While she is not a member herself, she brings familiarity and friendliness to her work.
Being that familiar face in a sterile isolation unit makes all the difference for people feeling lonely or anxious. Some patients would be isolating for awhile and would get stir crazy in their rooms.
Tla’amin Nation reports 37 COVID-19 cases since September 7
Tla’amin legislators have carefully considered the mental health and well-being of its residents and have decided to lift the nightly curfew from 9 pm to 6 am effective immediately, the release stated.
However, community members must refrain from hosting or attending gatherings. While the curfew is now lifted, members were reminded that gatherings of any size can expose them to COVID-19. To stay safe, Tla’amin members were asked to refrain from hosting or attending any gatherings or parties.
https://www.prpeak.com/news/tla-amin-nation-reports-37-covid-19-cases-since-september-7-1.24214535
Pandemic pressures exacerbated Saskatchewan’s syphilis outbreak
“My key point that I’m reminding them (people) of all the time is that I know everyone is busy with COVID-19, but syphilis and HIV are not going away,”said Dr. Ibrahim Khan, medical health officer for First Nations and Inuit Health in Saskatchewan. “Rather, those outbreaks have expanded with more intensity.”
COVID-19 case confirmed Tuesday in Inukjuak, Quebec
In a Facebook post on September 30, the NRBHSS said the second reported case in a Nunavik resident was outside of the region, and the individual wouldn’t be returning to Arctic Quebec until they were symptom free.
“All significant contacts of the aforementioned individual in the South have been reached and put into isolation,” the NRBHSS. “This person has not had any significant contact with people who are currently in Nunavik.”
Government of Canada accelerates investments in shelters, transition housing and other organizations providing gender-based violence supports and services
Women’s safety must be the foundation on which all progress is built. That’s why, in the recent Speech from the Throne, the Government of Canada committed to accelerate investments in shelters and transition housing to ensure anyone facing gender-based violence has a safe place to turn.
Today, the Honorable Patty Hadju, Minister of Health, on behalf of the Honourable Maryam Monsef, Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Rural Economic Development, announced up to $50 million in funding to support organizations providing supports and services to those experiencing gender-based violence.
Government of Canada is providing assistance to urban Indigenous organizations in Northern Ontario to address the COVID-19 pandemic
Today, on behalf of the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services, the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay – Superior North and Marcus Powlowski, Member of Parliament for Thunder Bay – Rainy River, announced the 34 Indigenous organizations in Northern Ontario who received approximately $3.6 million in funding through the Indigenous Community Support Fund’s off-reserve and urban stream to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The funding will aid with food security, mental health support services, homelessness, and required emergency supplies to ensure the health and safety of Indigenous Peoples.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/osfi-lifts-freeze-commuted-value-120000545.html
Not forgotten: Annual vigil for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls moved online
“It’s necessary to do it for the families to make sure their loved ones are not forgotten,” said Whitman, who splits her work time between the NWAC’s head office in Ottawa and another office she has at Glooscap First Nation in Nova Scotia.Those who tune in for the broadcast will be asked to light a candle during the afternoon vigil. And they will also be asked to light another candle after sundown that evening, to recognize the lives of Indigenous women and girls that have been lost.
The Sisters in Spirit Vigil has been held annually since 2005. The event became a way to create awareness for the disproportionately high number of First Nations, Inuit and Métis women and girls who are murdered or go missing across Canada.
U.S. advisory panel: prioritize low-income minority groups for COVID-19 vaccine
“Inequity has been a hallmark of this pandemic, both locally and globally,” said the report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, noting “an awakening to the power of racism, poverty, and bias in amplifying the health and economic pain and hardship imposed by this pandemic.”
Federal health officials will have the final say on distributing the 300 million vaccine doses the government is buying under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed. In practice, state and local health departments ultimately will have control over where they set up vaccination clinics.