COVID-19 case counts spike in Mishkeegogamang, Eabametoong, First Nations in northern Ontario
CBC
The number of COVID-19 infections are rising in a number of First Nations in northwestern Ontario.
As of Tuesday, the Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority was reporting a total of 269 active lab confirmed cases across 16 communities.
The highest case counts are in Mishkeegogamang, a community of about 1,300 people, about 310 kilometres from Thunder Bay. It had 103 active cases. Of those, 27 were newly reported.
Pikangikum had 85 active cases, but no new ones reported on Tuesday.
Eabametoong reported 12 new cases, doubling its active total to 24.
A spokesperson for Matawa First Nations Management, the tribal council that represents Eabametoong, said the organization was working on a number of supports for the community.
Even though health officials across Canada have recently moved away from using only COVID-19 case counts as a reliable indicator of the spread with the Omicron variant, these numbers are critical in small, remote First Nations, even if patients do not need emergency care.
During a recent outbreak in Bearskin Lake First Nation, it fell to a group of about 20 people to manage the community after more than half of the community's residents tested positive or went into isolation. Even though no one died or needed serious care, the experience left front-line workers and residents exhausted and burnt out.
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