Six months after the start of the coronavirus pandemic in Canada, Kanesatake’s Emergency Response Unit (UK) announced this week that it was showing for the first time cases of COVID-19 in the Mohawk network northwest of Montreal.
On Saturday, ERU spokesperson Robert Bonspiel announced over Facebook live that Quebec public health officials had informed the ERU that two residents tested positive. Three more cases have since been confirmed for a total of five active cases.
“We need other people to take this message seriously,” Bonspiel told CBC News.
“We need other people to wash their hands; we need other people to wear masks; we need other people not to come together.”
As of Aug. 3, Quebec allowed public indoor and outdoor gatherings to increase to a maximum of 250 people but Bonspiel said Kanesatake is still banning gatherings of any size.
“We don’t want people to get together. We’re asking people to social distance and take it seriously the way they did in the beginning,” he said.
“People would have probably had this false sense of security because Kanesatake had not been confirmed by the cases before Saturday. We hope that other people will perceive that this pandemic has not disappeared.”
Due to the positive cases, Riverside Elders Home has closed its doors to ors until further notice. The space had recently reopened to ors, operating with the ERU to expand regulations that allow families to citizens safely.
“As soon as we heard the news of the first COVID-19 case in our community, we closed it to make sure they weren’t in poor health and stay healthy,” Bonspiel said.
He said some businesses on the network had closed to allow staff to be reviewed. A cell verification clinic in Kanesatake on Tuesday reached its verification capacity at 11.30 a.m. The ERU said it is running to identify some other clinic in the network as soon as possible.
In the meantime, residents are also encouraged to get tested at a drive through testing clinic in nearby Boisbriand, Que.
On Saturday, Quebec public health officials informed the Conseil des Atikamekws de Wemotaci that one of its residents tested positive for COVID-19. It’s the first positive case in Wemotaci, which is located 265 kilometres north of Montreal.
The positive case resulted in the closure of the council’s administrative building until Aug. 16 for it to be cleaned.
According to Aboriginal Services Canada, there have been a total of 35 COVID-19 instances in the First Nations reserves in Quebec without any active instances since mid-May, however, knowledge has not been updated since July 31.
Journalist
Jessica Deer is Kanien’kehá:ka from Kahnawake. She works in CBC’s Indigenous unit based in Montreal. Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @Kanhehsiio.
with CBC files
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