FNHMA Health Bulletin: Coronavirus (COVID-19) |
Thanks for subscribing to our weekly health and wellness bulletin.
In this issue we're sharing helpful resources, funding opportunities, relevant news stories and COVID data.
In this week's edition, learn more about:
- Weekly Virtual Town Hall Update
- Total Number of Confirmed Cases of COVID-19 ISC is aware of as of February 11, 2021
- Epidemiological Summary Of COVID-19 Cases In First Nations Communities (Data Current As Of February 5, 2021)
- "New Manitoba-made App Documents COVID-19 Cases In Indigenous Communities"
- "How One Indigenous Doctor Is Tackling Vaccine Hesitancy, Starting With Her Own Mom"
- "COVID-19 In Indigenous Communities: What You Need To Know This Week"
- "Native Council Of P.E.I. Plans COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic"
- "B.C.’s Top Doctor Agrees To Give More COVID-19 Case Information To First Nations"
- "Military Assisting With COVID-19 Outbreak In First Nation In Manitoba"
Scroll down for these stories and more.
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Weekly Virtual Town Hall Update |
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The Next FNHMA Virtual Town Hall Is Scheduled For February 18, 2021!
We hope you'll continue to join us as we discuss and share important information on the pandemic, the vaccine and the issues and opportunities for front line health care workers.
We will share the names of our guests soon!
If you have questions for our guests, send them in by email to:
If you missed a Town Hall, you can watch them all. Simply click the button below to view our archived list.
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National and First Nation COVID-19 News |
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Total Number Of Confirmed Cases Of COVID-19 ISC Is Aware Of As Of February 11, 2021 |
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As of February 11, 2021, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) records indicate that there are 18,558 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on First Nations reserves, in 7 regions/provinces. There are 856 hospitalizations, 16,850 recovered cases, and 200 deaths.
For more information on these numbers and for more information on how to keep your family safe, please click here.
Click here to see the full ISC Coronavirus (COVID-19) and Indigenous communities page.
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Epidemiological Summary Of COVID-19 Cases In First Nations Communities (Data Current As Of February 5, 2021) |
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Cumulative reported, recovered, active and newly reported cases in First Nations communities (Data is current as of February 5, 2021)
The charts with epidemic curves over time (epi curves) below show:
- the cumulative totals of reported and recovered COVID-19 cases
- active cases
- Reported cases by First Nations communities by age group and sex
Epidemic curves of COVID-19 cases in First Nations communities on-reserve are available online, and updated weekly. While a recent rise in the number of cumulative, new and active COVID-19 cases suggests an increased transmission, the flattened epi curves observed over the summer months indicates many First Nations communities had been successful in their efforts to stop the spread of infections.
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"New Manitoba-made App Documents COVID-19 Cases In Indigenous Communities"
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"Manitoba researchers have developed a new COVID-19 app believed to be the first of its kind.
The app, called COVID-19 Indigenous, was created at the University of Manitoba in partnership with Indigenous leaders. It was made to support the COVID-19 response in Indigenous communities.
“It will allow Indigenous communities to document the impacts and their responses to COVID-19 in real time, and everything is aligned with OCAP (ownership, control, access, and possession) principles over their own data,” said Evan Chamakese, community outreach coordinator for the app and a member of Pelican Lake First Nation.
“They can share this information with us if they wish, or they can do as they please.”
Questions posed on the app revolve around mental, physical and spiritual health. Health directors in each community can modify the questions to fit the needs in their community."
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"How One Indigenous Doctor Is Tackling Vaccine Hesitancy, Starting With Her Own Mom"
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"Dr. Ojistoh Horn is trying to help people in her community make informed decisions about whether to get the COVID-19 vaccine — beginning with her own family.
The Mohawk physician is one of several health-care workers and elders providing vaccine education to Indigenous communities with long histories of being mistreated, abused and experimented on by Canadian institutions.
"The strongest, most powerful person in my life is my mother, Kahentinetha Horn, who has been a force to be reckoned with in terms of understanding our history and our culture and in trying to figure out why we make certain decisions and be responsible for our decisions," Horn told As It Happens host Carol Off.
"She has been the most important person that I have had to talk to to try and give her the information so that she can make the right decision as to taking the vaccination.""
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"COVID-19 In Indigenous Communities: What You Need To Know This Week"
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"The number of people in First Nations communities recovering from the coronavirus has exceeded newly reported cases for the second week in a row, according to the latest data from Indigenous Services Canada.
The federal department said the number of active cases in First Nations communities has declined to the lowest point since Dec. 6 with 1,834 active cases reported as of Feb. 9."
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"Native Council Of P.E.I. Plans COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic"
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"The Native Council of P.E.I.is working with Health PEI on a plan to administer a COVID-19 vaccine to as many as 1,500 Indigenous Islanders living off reserve.
The council represents status and non-status Indigenous people who are not residing on one of the four reserves overseen by P.E.I.'s two First Nations, Lennox Island and Abegweit. (Those reserves are located at Morell, Rocky Point, Scotchfort and Lennox Island.)
"It certainly means a lot to us. We are a grassroots, community-based organization," said Wanda Lyall, the finance director at the council.
She said the community has suffered during the pandemic because members have not been allowed to gather for powwows or meetings to share food and ceremonies that are important in Indigenous culture."
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"B.C.’s Top Doctor Agrees To Give More COVID-19 Case Information To First Nations"
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"B.C.’s top doctor has signed an agreement to provide more information on COVID-19 cases to a coalition of First Nations.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said the province will provide the Heiltsuk Nation, Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council Member Nations and Tsilhqot’in National Government with frequent reports on COVID-19 cases in areas near First Nations communities."
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"Military Assisting With COVID-19 Outbreak In First Nation In Manitoba"
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"The military has been called in to help manage an outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Pauingassi First Nation in Northern Manitoba, a community lacking the critical infrastructure to deal with a major health crisis.
While Pauingassi grapples with the emergency on the ground, it also faces a fundamental service gap in the air – the community doesn’t have an airport, leaving a local resident with the virus waiting for 17 hours before she could be airlifted out to receive medical treatment in Winnipeg, NDP MP Niki Ashton said.
Ms. Ashton, whose riding includes the First Nation community, said Wednesday that the pandemic has been made worse for the people in Pauingassi because of the lack of an airport. The Liberal government must learn from the crisis and invest in much-needed infrastructure in remote communities, she added."
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COVID-19 Communications Toolkit - Free Download - UPDATE 1
**The Communications Toolkit has been updated. Check below for the latest version.**
The pandemic has touched many Indigenous communities across the country and people need information to help them manage in this ever-changing environment. With the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines, people have renewed hope but understandably also have questions on how a vaccine will impact them and their families.
To help you answer some of these questions, Indigenous Services Canada has prepared a toolkit that contains a variety of communication resources and information for you to share with your community. Each community is unique in the way it shares information with its members. This toolkit can serve as a guide to create messages tailored to your community.
This is the first version of the communications toolkit, please look for updated versions in the coming weeks as the situation continues to evolve.
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What you need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine for Canada
Working to bring Canadians a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine
Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread and reduce the impact of infectious diseases, whether it's seasonal flu or childhood infections. A safe and effective vaccine(s) for COVID-19 will protect us against the novel coronavirus and will be an important step to safely resume normal life in Canada and around the world. The Government of Canada is working on all possible fronts to secure access to safe and effective vaccines and related supplies for Canadians. Here is what Canadians need to know about a future COVID-19 vaccine.
Download the full PDF about what you need to know about the vaccine here.
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FNHMA Pandemic Planning Tool Free Download |
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Did you know?
The FNHMA Pandemic Planning Tool provides the basics of developing a Community Pandemic Plan and can complement what you already have in place. It is based on the belief that:
“an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
That is why this tool focuses on identifying risks and planning to avoid or mitigate them.
To learn more, download your copy today.
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COVID-19 App Update Available!
The Canada COVID-19 app has an update available. If you don’t have auto-updates enabled on your device, remember to update your app manually!
Get the app today.
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Public Service Announcements About COVID-19 Vaccines |
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Radio public service announcements about COVID-19 are available in various Indigenous languages.
There are a total of 17 languages available with 2 scripts to choose from.
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COVID-19 Vaccines And Indigenous Peoples |
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The Government of Canada is working to secure safe and effective vaccines to prevent COVID-19. This is key to stopping the spread of COVID-19 and resuming normal life.
This page has resources COVID-19 vaccines from various sources around the country.
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Public Health Agency of Canada Is Looking For Designated Screening Officers, Health Assessment Officers-Paramedics/LPNs/RPNs And Registered Nurses |
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The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) continues to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and is urgently looking for additional support to help drive the response.
PHAC is looking for Designated Screening Officers, Health Assessment Officers-Paramedics/LPNs/RPNs and Registered Nurses across the country.
To learn more, click the links below:
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Webinar: "Sken:nen, Mino-Bimaadziwin: Understanding Wellness In Indigenous Wisdom Traditions For Caregivers" |
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The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario, in partnership with Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), Chiefs of Ontario (COO), the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Shkaabe Makwa and the Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association (CINA) is pleased to be hosting a webinar for health care providers, including nurses who have been working to support people and communities during the COVID pandemic.
The webinar entitled
"Sken:nen, Mino-Bimaadziwin: Understanding Wellness In Indigenous Wisdom Traditions For Caregivers” will be held on March 2, 2021 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. (EDT)
To learn more, download the webinar PDF here.
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"A young Indigenous man, struggling to understand the mandate to wear a mask during Covid, begins to see the face of compassion behind it."
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2021 Census Of Population Preparation |
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Census of Population:
Statistics Canada is preparing for the 2021 Census of Population. In this particular Census cycle there are some changes due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic. Some of the changes are that communities will be asked to complete the Census questionnaire online, rather than having someone go door to door. The Census will begin in May 2021.
Statistics Canada prioritizes recruiting locally in each community to assist with community collection efforts. It is essential to have local hires as there is no travel to communities due to the Pandemic. Starting in January 2021 an online tool will be made available for candidates to apply online or if they do not have access to internet or a computer, they will be able to call the call center and a recruitment agent will complete the application online for them.
Employment for Census collection is now open. To learn more and find out about the jobs and rates of pay, click here.
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Maad’ookiing Mshkiki – #SharingMedicine - Virtual Hub |
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Maad’ookiing Mshkiki – #SharingMedicine is a virtual hub that provides culturally relevant and trauma-informed information about #COVID19 vaccinations for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
Access the resources today: http://bit.ly/Sharing-Medicine
Rationale and Background:
Public Health authorities have begun a national roll-out of two COVID-19 vaccinations (Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19; Moderna COVID-19) to prioritized populations, including segments of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities. Despite the prioritization of Indigenous people, there may be barriers to the uptake of COVID -19 vaccinations across our communities for numerous complex and context-specific reasons. One of the barriers identified by our communities and by service providers, decision-makers, Elders and Knowledge Keepers is a lack of culturally safe and relevant educational materials about vaccination. It is critical to address this need urgently due to the rising rates of covid within some of our communities as well as the ongoing barriers related to a lack of cultural safety in the healthcare system.
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Accessing Additional Funding |
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Public Health Agency Of Canada - Call For Proposals |
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Funding Opportunity - Call for Proposals
"Immunization Partnership Fund: Increasing confidence, acceptance and uptake of Covid-19 vaccines"
The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) invites eligible organizations to submit a letter of intent (LOI) for time-limited projects to increase Canadians' confidence, acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.
This Call for Proposals is a two-step process. The first step is the submission of a LOI, which provides an overview of the proposed project. Applicants whose LOIs meet all eligibility criteria and best fit the objectives of this funding opportunity will be invited to move on to the second step by submitting a full proposal.
LOIs must be submitted by March 5, 2021.
Applications must be submitted using PHAC's Immunization Partnership Fund LOI Template.
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Indigenous Services Canada - New Financial Support |
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Indigenous Services Canada has a list of financial supports for:
- Indigenous individuals
- Indigenous students
- Indigenous organizations and communities
- Indigenous businesses
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A number of Partner and National Indigenous Organizations are and have been producing webinars in order to continue supporting First Nations in a changing landscape.
To view more please follow the links below and be directed to that organization's webinar page.
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Supports & Regularly Updated Resources |
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The following organizations have resources to combat COVID-19. These resources are regularly updated and are available to view at any time.
Please click below to be directed to more information.
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Indigenous Health Today houses many different resources and provides recent news updates via email.
Please subscribe to their health brief as a valued FNHMA Partner.
Click the link to subscribe today!
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Please note that service hours for InfoPoint have been updated.
InfoPoint will now be available from 9am until 5pm EDT, Monday to Friday.
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Previous Health Bulletins |
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If you missed or would like to see any of our weekly health bulletins, we have included a link to all of our previous volumes.
Click Here to see all previous Health and Wellness Bulletins.
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