Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 3
Friday, January 22, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
New COVID-19 cases still disproportionately high for Northern Manitoba as of Jan. 18
BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSOCNITIZEN.NET
Manitoba’s north continued to show a high number of COVID-19 cases relative to its population on Jan. 18, reporting 46 new cases, one more than Winnipeg had on the same day. 118 new cases were reported in the province on Monday, as well as four additional deaths, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 773. One of those deaths was a man in his 80s from the Northern Regional Health Authority (NRHA), whose case was linked to the outbreak and Rod McGillivary Memorial Care Home. His was the 29th death of a northern resident due to
COVID-19. The region’s 28th death, of a man in his 70s, was reported Jan. 17. The majority of the new cases reported n the north on Monday were from the Island Lake health district, where there were 30 new cases, bringing the total number of active cases in the region to 492. “We’re concerned that we’re seeing an increasingly disproportionate effect on First Nations,” said chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin at the Jan. 18 COVID-19 press conference There were also new cases reported in the Flin Flon/ Snow Lake/Cranberry/Sherridon health district (3), the
Grand Rapids/Moose Lake/ Easterville/Chemawawin health district (4) and the Gillam/Fox Lake, Thompson/Mystery Lake, The Pas/ Opaskwayak/Kelsey and Lynn Lake/Marcel Colomb/ South Indian Lake/Leaf Rapids health districts, all with two new cases. An outbreak was declared Jan 16 at the hospital in Lynn Lake, which implemented a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. beginning Jan. 18 for all residents except essential workers. Roussin said the curfew wasn’t a result of a direct recommendation from public health. “I think a curfew is always discussed and we see
that in other jurisdictions,” he said. “The real issue is finding ways to limit the amount of contacts.” There are 1,469 active cases in the NRHA as of Jan. 18, though the number is likely overstated. There have been nearly 3,000 cases of COVID-19 in the north so far, the third-highest number for any Manitoba health region behind Winnipeg and the southern health region. The five-day test positivity rate for Manitoba on Monday was 10.6 per cent and there were 289 people in hospital due to COVID-19, including 135 with active infections and 154 who are no longer considered infec-
tious. Twenty-three Manitobans are in intensive care due to active COVID infections while another 12 still in ICU are no longer considered infectious. Thirtythree northern residents, two whose cases are no longer considered active, are hospitalized due to COVID-19, including six in intensive care. Roussin said the goal is to let people know as early as possible this week what public health orders will look like after Jan. 22 so businesses have time to plan accordingly. “We’re going to try as early as we can this week to give that signal,” he said. “We know that businesses
will appreciate some of that prior notice to get things moving.” He also said that restrictions may be moving back to a region-by-region model soon and that public health orders may be eased differently in different health regions depending on their current situation. “That’s not off the table,” Roussin said. “I think we want to try to get back to that regional approach.” Nevertheless, some restrictions will remain in place for quite some time. “We are many months away from a place where we can start thinking about getting back to anything resembling being normal.”
Only a few eligible members of Northern Manitoba First Nations have refused COVID-19 vaccine, chiefs say BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Leaders of some of the seven Northern Manitoba First Nations that have received their first shipments of COVID-19 vaccines say it is a turning point in the battle against the virus, even if a small percentage of people aren’t eager to be immunized. One of those leaders put himself forward as an example for others and received the first vaccination in Pimicikamak Cree Nation (PCN) and in any Manitoba First Nation. PCN Coun. Mervin Garrick was with Chief David Monias and another councillor to meet the plane when it arrived with the first shipment of 199 doses of the Moderna vaccine on Jan. 7. As an elder 70 or older, he was eligible to receive the vaccine and did so that night, with local nurse Brenda Frogge administering the shot. “Elders have called me, talked to me about the vaccine and I just told them it’s better to take it,” said Garrick during a Jan. 12 Zoom press conference organized by Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO). Monias said the example shown by Garrick and other elders who have already received their vaccinations is a good start to the immunization campaign. “They stepped up to be the first to show that this is a good thing, that it’s safe and that our people should
be vaccinated,” Monias said. York Factory First Nation (YFFN) Chief Leroy Constant said the first vaccination in the community was delivered Jan. 11 and that nine more people received their first dose Jan. 12. Ten more were scheduled to receive it on Tuesday. The community of less than 400 people received only 20 doses of the vaccine in their first shipment to vaccinate members aged 70 and older. “Once I qualify I will get the vaccine,” said Constant, who says his next vaccination challenge as chief will be getting people to take the trip to Thompson to get the Pfizer vaccine once the Thompson vaccination site is up and running, which is scheduled to be by Feb. 1. In Norway House Cree Nation, about 90 people had received the vaccine so far, said Chief Larson Anderson, including 19 personal care home residents, 30 to 35 care home staff and elders aged 70 and up. Overall, there haven’t been many people who have declined to get vaccinated, though mistrust about the vaccine and misinformation about COVID-19 are apparent. Anderson said three people initially refused to get vaccinated in Norway House but then changed their minds after talking to a doctor. Monias said there were two people who declined the shot in Cross
Lake, reasoning that they had never gotten immunized before and didn’t see the point in starting now, a sentiment that is also present in YFFN. “We have a lot of old school people in out community that don’t believe in the western way [of medicine],” said Constant. “We have to respect that.” Monias says it’s up to individuals if they want to get the vaccine or not and his role is to ensure that they make an informed decision. “It’s not my job to force people to take it,” he said. Some people are almost thrown into a state of panic by hearing that the virus is in the region, however. “People think that if you catch it you’re going to die,” Constant said, despite the truth that the vast majority of people who contract COVID-19 recover, most of them without any medical intervention. Dr. Michael Routeledge, a medical advisor to MKO and its new health entity Keewatinohk Inniniw Minoayawin, said COVID-19 has had a disproportionate effect on First Nations in general and MKO First Nations in particular, with First Nations citizens who contract COVID-19 making up more hospitalizations and intensive care admissions than their proportion of the overall population and dying at younger ages than Manitobans as a whole who succumb to the virus.
Thompson Citizen photo courtesy of Pimicikamak Cree Nation Pimicikamak Cree Nation councillor Mervin Garrick was the first resident of a Manitoba First Nation to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine shortly after it arrived in Cross Lake Jan. 7. “That’s not surprising,” said Routledge. “We expected to see that.” MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee said getting vaccinated is an important part of keeping First Nations members healthy. “Since the pandemic began we always knew we were the most vulnerable,” Settee said.
The leaders agree that better health care in their communities and better housing are the key to making First Nations better able to weather challenges like this pandemic in the future. ”The north has a lot of different challenges from the south,” said Constant. “Your fate is determined by a doctor over the phone a
lot of times. It’s not a good system.” Monias said First Nations need to be in charge of their own health care systems and facilities. “It has to be a paradigm shift on how health care is administered in the north,” said Settee. “The system has been broken and it needs to be changed.”