iPolitics By iPolitics. Published on Apr 7, 2021 5:49pm (Bob Tymczyszyn/St. Catharines Standard)
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Good evening to you.
We begin in Ontario, where pandemic restrictions are tightening for the second time in a week. This afternoon, Premier Doug Ford announced a state of emergency and a four-week stay-at-home order. Thanks to a third wave of infections, intensive-care units are the busiest they’ve been so far during the pandemic. Things lock down at midnight.
Last Updated: Thursday, April 8, 2021 07:58
Despite fears expressed by many in Canada and around the world about the heightened vulnerability Indigenous communities faced from COVID 19, members of those communities–at least the ones living in Canada, it appears–have managed to sidestep the worst of those predictions.
(The 2016 census found that Indigenous peoples in Canada totalled 1,673,785 people, or 4.9% of the national population, with 977,230 First Nations people, 587,545 Métis, and 65,025 Inuit.)
And, the new figures suggest, that COVID-19 cases on reserves in Canada have dropped more than 85 per cent since January.
Elders at the Wikwemikong Nursing Home in Wikwemikong First Nation in Ontario took to social media in March to share the importance of social distancing and self-isolation during the global COVID-19 pandemic. A Statistics Canada study released in June found that 60 per cent of Indigenous people said their mental health has worsened since the onset o
Prince Albert Daily Herald
A sign warns travellers to Stanley Mission in northern Saskatchewan that due to COVID-19 only residents and essential services are allowed into the community. Photo taken in January 2021. Photo by Michael Bramadat-Willcock/Local Journalism Initiative
Active COVID case numbers in First Nations communities across Canada have declined for the 10th straight week, the federal government reported on Wednesday.
The most recent data shows 635 active cases, a significant drop from the roughly 5,000 reported in January.
Dr. Evan Adams, Indigenous Services Canada’s deputy chief medical officer of public health, called it an extraordinary trend, and credited it to solid local leadership and high uptake levels of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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Posted: Apr 07, 2021 3:43 PM ET | Last Updated: April 8
A senior becomes the first in Peguis First Nation to get the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. More than 60 per cent of Indigenous adults have now been vaccinated with at least one dose. (Peguis First Nation/Facebook)
Indigenous leadership and the early deployment of vaccines have caused COVID-19 cases on reserves to drop more than 85 per cent since January, Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller said today.
At the start of the year, there were more than 5,000 active cases in First Nations and Inuit communities across Canada that number had dropped to 635 by April 6, Miller said.