Life in lockdown: 2 families share stories from Bearskin Lake First Nation in Ontario
CBC
A ball flies across the living room floor of the home, past the wood stove and under a couple of hockey sticks before coming to a stop at the base of the couch.
That's one goal for dad Dominique Meekis.
His partner, Terrilyn Wemigwans, passes the ball to three-year-old Callie, who takes a whack at it. When the youngster misses, teetering off balance and tumbling to the ground, the whole family bursts out laughing.
Indoor makeshift hockey games, dance parties and games with balloons are just some of the ways the Meekis-Wemigwans family has tried to stay busy during the devastating COVID-19 outbreak in Bearskin Lake that's in its third week in the First Nation in northwestern Ontario.
More than 220 people have tested positive for the virus since Dec. 28, with even more forced to isolate in the remote First Nation of roughly 400 people that's about 600 kilometres north of Thunder Bay.
On Wednesday, Bearskin Lake Chief Lefty Kamenawatamin said in a statement the outbreak has led to a mental-health crisis.
"We try to keep our minds busy," Wemigwans told CBC News in a Skype interview. "But it takes a toll on us at nighttime, when you think of it the most.
"It's hard, especially when you see others that are not doing so well, and you just want them to get better."
The first few days of the outbreak were among the darkest for the young family. On Dec. 27, Callie came down with a fever and had achy bones. Shortly after, the three-year-old tested positive for COVID-19.
"I was so scared," Wemigwans said.
The family has already been hit hard by the virus. Both of Meekis's parents — Clarence Meekis and Alice Mckoop-Meekis — died from complications of COVID-19 on the same day last March.
Every time there is a lockdown, Wemigwans said their "hearts hurt," as they relive the day they found out both parents tested positive for COVID-19.
After Callie was found to have the virus, the parents started wearing masks and washing their hands. They cleaned the house multiple times daily, and kept Callie's fever down by giving her Tylenol regularly and keeping her hydrated.
They also had to rely on help from a handful of front-line staff and volunteers to haul water to their home, with two long-term boil-water advisories affecting Bearskin Lake, and to deliver chopped wood.
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