First Nations raise alarm as cases mount

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/12/2020 (1783 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As the COVID-19 death toll in Manitoba nears 500, a growing number of remote First Nations have put out calls for help to protect their populations amid severe outbreaks.

Seven more people have died of virus-related complications, the province announced Sunday in its daily briefing, bringing the total number of fatalities to 490.

Of the 273 new cases recorded, 166 are in the capital, 50 are in the north, 22 are in Southern Health–Santé Sud, 18 are in Prairie Mountain Health region, and 17 are in Interlake-Eastern.

Manitoba’s north — home to Shamattawa and Red Sucker Lake First Nations, both of which are currently experiencing outbreaks — has the highest rate of infection per capita at present.

Chief Samuel Knott of Red Sucker Lake said he is watching the situation in his community become more dire daily.

“Every prayer is much needed right now for our community,” Knott told the Free Press, when reached by phone Sunday afternoon in quarantine.

The first case in the community of upwards of 1,000, which is located near the Ontario border, more than 530 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, was identified on Thursday.

As of Sunday afternoon, 18 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed; Knott, his wife, and one of their five children are among those affected.

The chief said the rest of his children are now presumed positive as well.

Given the tight-knit nature of Red Sucker Lake — there is one general store everyone visits — overcrowding is common in homes, and there is inadequate access to clean water, Knott said every community member will likely end up having to self-isolate for two weeks.

Knott is experiencing mild symptoms, including a cough and chills, but said one community member has already been evacuated to Winnipeg.

It remains unclear how exactly COVID-19 arrived in the community. Except for essential service workers such as law enforcement officials, any travellers — including newborn babies from Winnipeg — are required to self-isolate when they arrive.

The chief and council of Red Sucker Lake voted in favour of testing all travellers who returned to the community in the summertime, but the province’s policy on testing symptomatic individuals complicated matters.

Knott said he is currently awaiting responses about requests for government support to evacuate high-risk individuals to the capital to quarantine, tests for all community members, and helping hands, whether they be from the Canadian Red Cross or military.

“We are deeply concerned by the rise in COVID-19 cases among Indigenous peoples in Manitoba,” states an email from the office of Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller.

The minister’s office indicated Sunday Indigenous Services Canada has daily calls with community leadership to ensure First Nations have the infrastructure and medical staff necessary to address an outbreak. Ottawa is ready to provide additional support to Red Sucker Lake as needed, a spokesperson said.

Also Sunday, a provincial spokesperson said in a statement Manitoba is working with federal partners and First Nations leadership to support pandemic efforts in several Indigenous communities.

Members of the military have already arrived in Shamattawa First Nation, where the chief indicated this weekend that 25 per cent of residents continue to test positive for the virus.

A team of more than 60 in total, including nurses, medical technicians and other Canadian Armed Forces members, is being deployed to the reserve.

The boots on the ground are expected to assist local health authorities to establish an isolation area, support people in quarantine, and provide general duty support until the situation improves.

Isolation units will be set-up at a school in the community. That’s also an option in Red Sucker Lake, which already has a 20-person camp for people in quarantine and is considering converting an old nursing station into quarantine units.

The Department of National Defence did not respond to requests for comment before deadline Sunday.

Meantime, in the Interlake-Eastern health region, Berens River First Nation is grappling with what one local councillor called an “unmanageable” situation.

According to the Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Coordination Team’s latest weekly bulletin, which is dated Dec. 11, there have been at least 1,559 cases on reserves in the province.

The report states 59 First Nations people have died of the virus, both on-reserve and off; 2,680 cases have been identified among First Nations people living off reserve.

The province’s Sunday update listed seven new fatalities, which include a woman in her 70s from the Interlake-Eastern health region, whose death is linked to the Kin Place outbreak in Oakbank, a woman in her 60s in the North, and five deaths in Winnipeg linked to various outbreaks.

A man in his 60s in Winnipeg died in connection to the St. Norbert Personal Care home. A woman in her 70s died in connection to the Charleswood Care Centre outbreak. A man in his 70s died in connection to the outbreak at the N3W unit at Concordia Hospital. And two men in their 80s died — one whose case is linked to the Maples Long Term Care Home outbreak; the other became ill in connection to an outbreak at Park Manor Care.

Manitoba’s current test positivity rate is 13.5 per cent. It is 13 per cent in the capital.

 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie