Relatively spared during the first waves of the pandemic, many Indigenous communities have faced outbreaks since December. As the number of cases continues to climb, it is time to tighten measures.
The problem affects all of Canada. In two weeks, the number of people affected in the communities has more than tripled, from 986 to 3,404, according to the latest report from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
“I am very worried,” confided Thursday to Duty the Dr Stanley Vollant, who notably advises Innu communities in their response to COVID-19. “The communities are hit very badly. Fortunately, the vaccination rate is high and the disease causes fewer complications, but we are still playing with fire. “
Unfortunately, many indigenous families still live in overcrowded and poorly ventilated houses, he recalls.
Among the Innu, the communities of Uashat and Pessamit, on the North Shore, were particularly hard hit this time. As of Wednesday, there were 115 active cases and 16 new cases in Uashat out of a population of 4,600 people. Meanwhile, Pessamit has recorded 69 cases since December 22, including 5 new on Wednesday.
A precarious situation for which the previous waves have at least allowed communities to prepare themselves, according to a stakeholder from the Innu nation reached by The duty. “It’s been several times that the communities have been accustomed to setting up a safety net with the entry management system, screening clinics and vaccination clinics. We are in a breathless system, but it works. “
“The key”, emphasizes the Dr Vollant is to “stay inside, get vaccinated, take care and protect our elders”.
The Innu of Lac-Saint-Jean were not spared either. In Mashteuiatsh, we continue to fight against the outbreak that forced the closure of the school and daycare in mid-December. On Thursday, the Band Council reported 27 new cases in three days. At the worst of the second wave last year, he had identified 11 on the same day in the community of 2,200 people.
There as elsewhere, we are counting on vaccination to curb Omicron. From Monday, the Mashteuiatsh community center will host a mobile clinic to distribute the third dose (or others if necessary) to all those who wish to be vaccinated.
Hit for the first time
Mashteuiatsh was one of the few indigenous communities to have had to close its school last year, along with its neighbor Roberval.
Others are now facing the virus for the first time. This is the case of the small Anichinabe community Long Point First Nation of Winneway, in Abitibi. On January 3, it was confirmed that 14 people were affected, the equivalent of 4% of the population of 317 inhabitants.
The 14 cases come from “13 different households which represent about 10% of all houses in the community,” said the local council, in English, in a statement.
In Wemotaci, in Mauricie, the Atikamekw Council announced Thursday that its community would now be “closed for all visits considered non-essential”. Like the Quebec government, it also imposed a curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Since Monday, there have been no less than 24 new cases and 66 active cases, worrying data for Wemotaci, who had only identified 126 since the start of the pandemic.
Among the Crees of Quebec, COVID-19 is also causing unprecedented turmoil. At the start of the week, the organization Cree Health identified 493 active cases in the communities. “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose a threat to the population of Eeyou Istchee,” the organization warned on its website.
More numerous cases in ROC
For the Dr Vollant, there is no doubt: these numerous outbreaks are the work of the Omicron variant. So far, the SAC has only associated 620 cases in Indigenous people with this variant, but it has been detected in no less than 36 different communities.
Asked Wednesday about the situation, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated that indigenous communities were particularly “vulnerable” to the virus.
The government says it is ensuring that they are “appropriately supported”, for its part declared the Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos. “Our efforts were crowned with success during the first waves. We made sure there were early vaccination campaigns. “
In Canada, Alberta has had the highest number of cases among Indigenous people since the start of the pandemic (14,780), followed by Saskatchewan (13,882) and Manitoba (12,661). Quebec ranks sixth behind Ontario with 2,666 cases, according to data from SAC.
Since the start of the pandemic, 567 Indigenous people have died from the disease in Canada.