SHARE ON: |
| |
| |
 |
 |
|
|
Almost a month has passed since Diane McDonald last saw her mother, who lives next door.
Her sisters and cousin visit but besides them, she says, her door stays locked to keep others away.
Adjusting to the reality of social isolation is hard on people in Fond du Lac Denesuline Nation, one of Saskatchewans northernmost communities, located near the Northwest Territories boundary.
Two weeks ago, the fly-in community of about 1,000 people reported its first case of COVID-19.
As of Friday, it had 61 active cases and more than 300 close contacts were in isolation - about 30 per cent of the population.
Its very difficult for families not to visit each other because in a small community like this, everybody loves visiting, McDonald, whos coordinating the communitys pandemic response, told The Canadian Press.
There are people that are upset and people that are frustrated. The morale in the community is down.
Saskatchewan health officials have reported 64 active cases in the provinces Far North region.
The Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority said the areas daily new case rate per 100,000 is 12 times higher than the provincial average.
Its really very concerning, said Dr. Nnamdi Ndubuka, medical health officer with the organization, which serves different First Nations.
He said the novel coronavirus arrived in Fond du Lac through travel.
Over the summer, McDonald said many residents travelled for medical appointments and other reasons to Saskatoon and Prince Albert. The two cities became hot spots for COVID-19 in the fall.
Health officials have said crowded living conditions in Fond du Lac contributed to the viruss spread there, as different generations of some families live under the same roof.
There have also been times when people who were symptomatic or deemed a close contact attended gatherings, said Ndubuka.
The community lacks a clean water supply.
There have been mechanical issues with the water treatment plant since the end of October. The community, which went under a boil water advisory, declared a state of emergency several days after it detected its first case of COVID-19.
Everything hit us all at once, said McDonald.
Her team, aided by RCMP officers, has been delivering jugs of water to homes. Indigenous Services Canada says it helped contract some of the shipments.
Still, for weeks there hasnt been a consistent supply of running water for cleaning and handwashing.
We believe the lack of water within this region might have contributed to the number of cases, particularly when individuals wouldnt have enough water to actually maintain good hygiene in the setting of a crowded home situation, said Ndubuka.
McDonald said she expects issues with the water plant to be resolved this weekend. A new pump was to be flown into the community, along with about 75 cleaning kits to be passed out.
Ensuring Fond du Lac has enough food and supplies is a challenge, as there is no access road from the south and transportation costs are high.
Indigenous Services Canada said it provided about 2 million to help Fond du Lac with public-health measures, including perimeter security, and almost 400,000 to help with food security.
McDonald and her team have been delivering items to households that are under isolation, including Tylenol as well as fish harvested by community members.
Most families in the community use a wood stove, so we have people on the ground that actually (are) doing wood deliveries, she added.
The Athabasca Health Authority estimates more than two-thirds of the active cases are tied to the communitys school, which has closed.
Because some people are asymptotic, they question whether their test results are real, said Derek Keller, executive director of primary health care with the authority.
He said he expects case numbers to keep rising. So far, no one has fallen severely ill and only two people over 60 have been infected.
The next number of days well start to see evidence perhaps of the work that weve done, whether it has been enough, said Keller.
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
11 pm |
| 14 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
WIND: SE 31 KM/H
GUSTING TO 64 KM/H |
|
|
|
12 am |
| 14 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 32 KM/H
GUSTING TO 67 KM/H |
|
|
|
1 am |
| 14 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 32 KM/H
GUSTING TO 65 KM/H |
|
|
|
2 am |
| 13 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 31 KM/H
GUSTING TO 61 KM/H |
|
|
|
3 am |
| 13 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 28 KM/H
GUSTING TO 56 KM/H |
|
|
|
4 am |
| 12 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 26 KM/H
GUSTING TO 51 KM/H |
|
|
|
5 am |
| 11 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 20 KM/H
GUSTING TO 40 KM/H |
|
|
 |
6 am |
| 11 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
WIND: SSE 20 KM/H
GUSTING TO 38 KM/H |
|
|
|
|
TODAY |
HIGH OF 20 ℃
LOW OF 7 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
THURSDAY |
HIGH OF 22 ℃
LOW OF 11 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
|
FRIDAY |
HIGH OF 19 ℃
LOW OF 10 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
 |
SATURDAY |
HIGH OF 13 ℃
LOW OF 4 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
|
|
|
SUNDAY |
HIGH OF 15 ℃
LOW OF 3 ℃ |
| OVERCAST CLOUDS |
|
|
|
MONDAY |
HIGH OF 19 ℃
LOW OF 7 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
TUESDAY |
HIGH OF 17 ℃
LOW OF 8 ℃ |
| SCATTERED CLOUDS |
|
|
|
WEDNESDAY |
HIGH OF 23 ℃
LOW OF 9 ℃ |
| BROKEN CLOUDS |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
ROYAL TUSK
SMOKE RINGS
11:50 PM |
|
 |
SIXX AM
THE FIRST 21
11:42 PM |
|
 |
ASHES OF SOMA
ADDICTED TO THE DRUG
11:38 PM |
|
 |
KID ROCK
AMERICAN BADASS
11:33 PM |
|
 |
BREAKING BENJAMIN
BLOW ME AWAY
11:30 PM |
|
 |
QUEEN
HEADLONG
11:26 PM |
|
 |
CREED
WEATHERED
11:20 PM |
|
 |
10 YEARS
DANCING WITH THE DEAD
11:17 PM |
|
 |
ASKING ALEXANDRIA
MOVING ON
11:10 PM |
|
 |
PAPA ROACH
LEADERS OF THE BROKEN HEARTS
11:06 PM |
|
 
 |
