COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: What you need to know
CBC
The total number of hospitalizations for people on First Nations due to COVID-19 has increased by 41 since Jan. 19, and there have been 11 more deaths since last week.
Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) said as of Jan. 26, there had been 2,585 total hospitalizations in First Nations communities due to COVID-19, and 599 deaths.
According to data from ISC, there were 5,509 active cases of COVID-19 reported in First Nations as of Jan. 26. This is up from the 5,097 active cases reported as of Jan. 19. Case numbers may be understated as some provinces are now limiting access to PCR tests.
To date, ISC is aware of a total of 6,851 cases in First Nations communities due to the Omicron variant: 4,387 in Eastern Canada and 2,464 in Western Canada. A total of 121 First Nations have reported cases of the strain.
The Government of Nunavut said as of Jan. 25, there are 247 active cases of COVID-19 in 17 communities.
To date, there have been 1,439 confirmed cases in Nunavut, 1,187 total recovered cases and five deaths. Nunavut says 25,369 people have received at least two vaccine doses.
Total cumulative First Nations case numbers per region:
British Columbia 7,384
Alberta: 16,912
Saskatchewan: 14,803
Manitoba: 16,916
Ontario: 7,628
Quebec: 5,417
Atlantic: 1,422