Volume 6 | May 1 2020
FNHMA Health and Wellness Bulletin: Coronavirus (COVID-19)
This weekly health and wellness bulletin is intended to provide facts, resources for supports and outline potential actions to organizations, communities and their members. Each week will include different and updated information focused on COVID-19.

In this issue, the topics and updates to be provided are:

  • The Weekly Virtual Town Hall
  • The opening of the first mobile testing clinic operated by a First Nation for COVID-19
  • How the urban Indigenous population feels about the COVID-19 response
  • A midwife from Manitoba and her worries around self isolation and expecting mothers
  • How Gull Bay First Nation is being affected by the stigma around testing
  • An update on COVID-19 modeling
  • An increase in the number of positive cases in First Nation communities
  • How a cree-speaking raven is helping give tips and information to Indigenous youth

See below for more information on these topics.
FNHMA Weekly Virtual Town Hall
FNHMA has committed to providing these Virtual Town Halls on a weekly basis. Each week will feature different guest organizations, representatives, and focus on different topics related to COVID-19.

The latest Town Hall Session was aired Thursday April 30, 2020 at 1pm EDT.

You can view the April 30th Town Hall Here

The speakers were:

Regional Chief Kluane Adamek, Yukon and Co-chair, AFN Chiefs Committee on Health
Regional Chief Marlene Poitras, Alberta, AFN
Regional Chief Kevin Hart, Manitoba, AFN
Carol Hopkins, Executive Director, Thunderbird Partnership Foundation
Dr. Brenda Restoule, CEO, First Peoples Wellness Circle
(Moderator) Marion Crowe, Chief Executive Officer, First Nations Health Managers Association

March 25 FNHMA Virtual Town Hall is available to view Here .
  • The discussion covered topic such as updates from FNHMA on ISC Communications; Tools and Rellevant Sources of Information; and Supports that are available during COVID-19.
 
April 2 FNHMA Virtual Town Hall is available to view Here.
  • The discussion covered topics such as updates from FNHMA on ISC Communications; Tools and Relevant Sources of Information; and Using Culture to Support Wellness During COVID-19.
 
April 9 FNHMA Virtual Town Hall is available to view Here.
  • The discussion covered topics such as updates from Dr. Tom Wong ISC and Dr. Valerie Gideon FNIHB; Tools and Relevant Sources of Information; and a focus on Youth.
 
April 16 FNHMA Virtual Town Hall is available to view Here.
  • The discussion covered topics such as updates from Indigneous Youth organizations about their activities during COVID-19 and how indigneous youth can access supports and stay connected.
 
April 23 FNHMA Virtual Town Hall is available to view Here.
  • The discussion covered topics such as updates from Perry Bellegarde AFN National Chief, updates from ISC and available resources to communities.
Virtual Town Halls Helps Spread Credible Health Information to First Nations Communities
The First Nations Health Managers Association (FNHMA) has been holding weekly virtual town hall meetings to provide credible information and updates to First Nations communities across Canada.

“When we have a population who has health staff that is lower than the rest of Canada, we needed to act quickly and responsibly to information sharing and to create a collaboration hub of access to information,” she said on Friday.

Click here to read the full article
National and First Nation COVID-19 News
Mohawk Council Of Akwesasne Opens Mobile COVID-19 Testing Clinic
The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne’s Department of Health received approval from the Eastern Ontario Health Unit to operate a mobile testing clinic for COVID-19 in Akwesasne. This is one of the first mobile testing clinics operated by an Indigenous public health body in Canada and will operate as a drive-through site with appointments scheduled by our Community Health Program (CHP).

“I’m proud of the work being done by the team here with MCA’s Department of Health to simultaneously maintain essential services for the community while launching a new clinic under constantly evolving guidelines and directives.” Cindy Francis-Mitchell, CFNHM, Assistant Director of Health.

Click here to read the full article
First Nations Communities See Increase in COVID-19 Cases, Minister Says
First Nations communities across the country are have seen an uptick in novel  coronavirus  cases in the last week, Canada’s Indigenous Services Minister said on Saturday.

According to  Marc Miller , since April 24, there have been 95 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in First Nations communities on reserve and 14 infections in  Nunavik Inuit  communities.

Click here to read the full article
Total Number Of Confirmed Cases In Canada
This report is a breakdown of all known cases in Canada based on province. Keeping up to date on the current COVID-19 cases can help you decide on what actions to take for yourself and your community.

Click here to see the full Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): Outbreak update page
Midwife Worries For New Moms Isolating Due To Pandemic
Aimee Carbonneau is a midwife with K’Tigaaning Midwives Clinic on the Nipissing First Nation near North Bay, Ont.
Her clinic has seen a dramatic increase in women interested in accessing midwifery services rather than the prospect of delivering their babies at hospital because of worries over COVID-19.

Click here to read the full article
Cree-speaking Puppet Teaches COVID-19 Health Tips To First Nation Communities
A group of Manitobans are making sure Indigenous people get accurate health information amid the COVID-19 pandemic in their own language – and they are doing it with the help of a puppet named Kahkakiw.

Kahkakiw -which means ‘raven’ in Cree- is a Cree-speaking raven puppet created by a Manitoba man named Samson. Together, the pair is teaching kids in Indigenous communities the important health information amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Click here to read the full article
Gull Bay First Nation Chief Says Stigma Has Become An Issue As The Community Reports Seventh COVID-19 Case
The Chief of Gull Bay First Nation, Wilfred King, said contact tracing is underway in the community to determine who may have been in close contact with the latest positive case, but he worries about how stigma attached to the virus will impact those being tested.
"As we continue to see here in GBFN there is no age group that is immune to COVID-19 as cases reach across the spectrum from toddlers to elders," reads the news release from King.

Click here to read the full article
Federal Officials Released Updated COVID-19 Modeling
On Parliament Hill, federal officials hold a technical briefing to discuss their most recent modelling data concerning the possible impact of COVID-19 in Canada. An initial set of federal COVID-19 projections were made public on April 9, 2020.

Click here to watch the full briefing
'Disrespectful': Urban Indigenous Population Feels Short-changed by Federal COVID-19 Response
Ottawa has allocated $15 million out of its $305 million Indigenous Community Support Fund to Indigenous organizations and communities that provide services to Indigenous people living in urban centres or off reserves through a call for proposals, which opened April 6 and closed April 13.

Click here to read the full article
Accessing Additional Support Funds
Relief Measures For Indigenous Businesses
The Government of Canada will provide up to $306.8 million in short-term, interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions for First Nations, Inuit, and Métis businesses.

This measure is part of the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. Financial support will be provided through Aboriginal Financial Institutions and administered by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association, as well as the Métis Capital Corporations in partnership with Indigenous Services Canada.

Click Here to find more information
Support For Students And New Grads Affected By COVID-19
The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, announced a comprehensive support of nearly $9 billion for post-secondary students and recent graduates.

This plan will help provide the financial support they need this summer, help them continue their studies in the fall, and help many get the experience they need to start their careers.

Click Here to find more information
COVID-19: First Nations Community Guide on Accessing Additional Supports
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) is working closely with First Nation partners, the Public Health Agency of Canada, other departments to protect the health and safety of First Nations.
 
For more information please Click Here or to download the PDF that includes important information about accessing supports.
 
Details on the Indigenous Community Support Fund
On March 18, the Government of Canada announced a series of economic measures which included $305 million for a new Indigenous Community Support Fund.

Visit the Indigenous Community Support Fund page for more information.
 
Click here to see the PDF version in both English and French.
Previous Health and Wellness Bulletins
If you missed or would like to see any of our weekly health bulletins, we have included links to our previous volumes.

Click the links below to see previous Health and Wellness Bulletins.

Click here to see Volume 1 / March 23 issue of the weekly Health and Wellness Bulletin
Click here to see Volume 2 / March 27 issue of the weekly Health and Wellness Bulletin
Click here to see Volume 3 / April 7 issue of the weekly Health and Wellness Bulletin
Click here to see Volume 4 / April15 issue of the weekly Health and Wellness Bulletin
Click here to see Volume 5 / April 20 issue of the weekly Health and Wellness Bulletin
Click the button to sign up to receive regular FNHMA emails and updates!
Supports & Regularly Updated Resources
The Assembly of First Nations has a web-page to provide updates to First Nations about the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 24, 2020, AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde declared a state of emergency for all First Nations regarding COVID-19. This web-page is a resource that AFN is using to inform and update First Nations

Click here to view the AFN Coronavirus web-page
Keep up to date on how Indigenous Service Canada (ISC) is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation and the responses to it are changing hour by hour, so keeping up to date with the most recent information is of the utmost importance

Click here to access updates from ISC
The Government of Canada provides update statements regularly. It is important to stay up to date with these announcements because they all have new and relevant information for First Nations communities, organizations, and businesses.

Click here to see all Awareness Resources
The Thunderbird Partnership Foundation offers seven ICBoC certified courses and a large array of toolkits which provide addiction and treatment center workers with the special skills and knowledge needed to work effectively within First Nations communities. :

Phone: (519) 692-9922

Or visit their website at : https://thunderbirdpf.org/

The First Peoples Wellness Circle (FPWC) is a national not-for-profit corporation governed and managed by Indigenous Leaders and exists to improve the lives of Canada's First Peoples by addressing healing, wellness and other mental health challenges. FPWC is a national corporation with membership open to all Canadians who are committed to similar goals.

If you require these supports please contact

Phone: 1-705-393-4942
Email: info@fpwc.ca

Or visit the COVID-19 Resources page on their website: https://www.fpwc.ca/covis-19-resources
FNHMA Updates
FNHMA staff will be working from home and are available by email during this time.

For access to the staff directory visit https://fnhma.ca/contact-us/ or call
(613) 599-6070.

We are committed to providing the most up to date information and supporting our membership during this difficult time.
FNHMA has a page of resources and information for COVID-19 awareness and preperation.

Click here to view the resource page on the FNHMA Website.


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