At least 2 remote First Nations in Ontario implement travel restrictions amid Omicron variant concerns
CBC
At least two remote First Nations in northern Ontario have taken steps to prevent non-essential travel and protect their communities from the emerging Omicron threat.
It's a move the region's top public health physician hopes will be replicated across the region.
"We believe that we will be impacted by this new variant of concern, and we're making the preparations for that," said Dr. Lloyd Douglas.
At an emergency meeting of chiefs that was held last week, Douglas warned that infections due to the Omicron variant may overwhelm public health capacity with case and contact management, and he issued a lengthy list of recommendations to try to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the First Nations.
Those recommendations include:
Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug was the first to restrict travel, doing so on Dec. 13. Community members are allowed to travel to smaller communities in the area, like Sioux Lookout, Dryden and Kenora. But non-essential travel further than that, for example to larger urban centres like Winnipeg or Thunder Bay, is restricted.
Essential trips, like for medical appointments, are still allowed, but anyone coming back must isolate for seven days and receive two negative tests. Essential workers like nurses, police officers and contractors are under additional COVID-19 protocols.
Chief Donny Morris said although they don't currently have any cases of COVID-19, the First Nation is operating under the assumption that Omicron is already present in the community.
"We're told it's like a wall, you're going up against a wall, and this thing is just climbing."
Neskantaga's restrictions kicked in Monday and are even stricter.
It isn't allowing any non-essential travel in or out of the fly-in community, and anyone coming into the First Nation and who is not fully vaccinated must isolate for 14 days.
"We hear it's very contagious and that's really concerning for all of us," Chief Wayne Moonias told CBC News. "We have to put something in place because we have a lot of vulnerable populations."
The concern is even higher in Neskantaga, Moonias said, because of the compounding crises affecting the First Nation. The First Nation has been under a state of emergency since 2013 because of a suicide crisis and high rates of substance use, and has been under a boil-water advisory for nearly 27 years.
Moonias said they also have just one isolation unit in Neskantaga, as the First Nation faces overcrowding and a shortage of nearly 100 homes.
Run 3 Space | Play Space Running Game
Traffic Jam 3D | Online Racing Game
Duck Hunt | Play Old Classic Game
Metrolinx has begun construction on a pedestrian tunnel linking UP Express Bloor Station to the nearby Dundas West subway station, nearly a decade after it was announced.
Three New Brunswick timber companies are seeking to have their forestry lands excluded from the Wolastoqey Nation's Indigenous title claim that's working its way through the courts.
It could be at least another week before wildfire evacuees from a northern Manitoba First Nation are able to go home, leadership says.
The Saskatchewan government has informed Crown employees it will extend the life of all its coal-fired power plants, setting up a potential legal battle with the federal government over environmental regulations.
The B.C. government said Wednesday it will be pulling funding for an extremely expensive drug used by one person in the province — a young Vancouver Island girl.
After two years of negotiations, Health P.E.I. has reached an agreement on wages for support services staff that the union representing the workers is calling "historic."
Iranian-Canadians are trying desperately to get in touch with friends and family in Iran as missiles fall and routes out of the country are limited.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is willing to give First Nations what they want for their support in developing mines, but they cannot "keep coming hat in hand all the time to the government" for more money.
The N.W.T.'s public utilities board has denied part of the Northwest Territories Power Corporation's (NTPC) request to increase rates, and directed it to cut planned increases to management salaries and benefits.
After reporting an 11-year high for collision fatalities last year, Calgary is turning to new technology in an attempt to make its roads safer.
There will be no changes to Cambridge's fireworks bylaw — for now.
Eric Huntington built his dream cabin nestled in the wilderness of central Alaska, eventually raising two daughters there. But over the years, he learned that living in this quiet, remote village came with a hefty cost.
Israel's war with Iran has temporarily delayed a reckoning with some of its main Western allies, but seems unlikely to close what has become a yawning gap between them over its conduct in Gaza and the West Bank.