Covid-19 Daily News Digest – September 19, 2020
5 cases of COVID-19 in Kasabonika Lake
All 5 of the individuals are doing well and are currently self-isolating. The SLFNHA Preventing Infection Diseases team will continue to work with community health staff to support public management of the cases.
SLFNHA says residents are asked to continue following public health measures, including social distancing, handwashing, wearing masks, staying in your social circles and avoiding unnecessary travel.
https://kenoraonline.com/local/5-cases-of-covid-19-in-kasabonika-lake
Positive COVID-19 case within Penticton Indian Band delays class for all on reserves students
“They had to shut down everything,” says student Savannah Louis.
“It’s nerve wracking for me because I have family. I don’t live out there [on reserve], but I have family who live out there,” Louis says.
Canada survey shows how COVID-19 intensified existing inequities
Among Indigenous participants, 44% reported low levels of trust in the justice system. Among Black participants, more than half said they had low levels of confidence in the police — a proportion that rose to two-thirds among those who experienced discrimination over the course of the pandemic.
Non-white participants were more than twice as likely to say they have been discriminated against than white participants. Among the age groups, 15- to 24-year-olds were twice as likely as seniors to report experiencing discrimination as well.
Government of Canada announces the Indigenous organizations in British Columbia who received funding to address the COVID-19 pandemic
The Government of Canada is providing funding to Indigenous organizations in British Columbia to address the critical needs of urban Indigenous Peoples during this crisis. The funding will aid with food security, mental health support services, homelessness and emergency supplies required to ensure the health and safety of Indigenous Peoples.
Rieli Franciscato died protecting isolated indigenous peoples in the Amazon (commentary)
The FUNAI, and the neighbor countries equivalent agencies, have suffered severe cuts due to politics and the economic, related to COVID-19. This generation may be the last one to witness whole unknown cultures go extinct. Another casualty of the pandemics.
The land is our hanii tohowxt
“My grandfather meant the whole lax yip (territory) provided moose, salmon, berries, medicines. All the things that provide for your dinner table, the land provides,” Chief Malii said. “We need to think about sustainability in that way, with climate change and now COVID-19 — we need to go back. An Indigenous land use plan is an insulator against climate change.”
https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/09/18/land-our-dinner-table
B.C. First Nations call on privacy commissioner to release community COVID-19 data
“The idea that we need to have an outbreak — as we have just had in our community — before B.C. will share information, is reckless and colonial, and it goes against B.C.’s own laws and promises of reconciliation,” said Marilyn Slett, Chief Councillor of the Heiltsuk Nation in a news release Tuesday, Sept. 15.
COVID-19 testing site for Indigenous people to open in Toronto
The idea for the testing site came after the organization’s shelter had a client test positive for COVID-19 early on in the pandemic, on March 24.
Teekens said when he found out that evening that the shelter had a confirmed case of COVID-19, he began reaching out to city health officials for guidance. He said his questions fell on deaf ears, as calls went unreturned.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/covid-19-testing-site-indigenous-people-toronto-1.5726770