More than 75 per cent of Manitoba First Nations now have active COVID-19 cases

The number of First Nations in Manitoba with active COVID-19 cases has nearly doubled since December as the Omicron variant causes a surge of infections in the province. 

The Manitoba First Nations COVID-19 Pandemic Response Team says 49 of the 63 First Nations in the province had active COVID-19 cases as of Monday, up from the mid-twenties at the end of December. 

Last week, that number was in the low 40s. 

There were also 70 First Nations people in hospital with COVID-19 as of Jan. 6, when the team issued its latest weekly update, making up just over a quarter of the total number of people in hospital in Manitoba on that date. 

Rapid response teams have been deployed to four communities in need of additional support, said Dr. Marcia Anderson, public health lead of Manitoba's First Nations Pandemic Response Co-ordination Team.

They've also deployed surge support to 11 communities to help with vaccination efforts. 

But Anderson said her team is facing the same staffing challenges that other health-care agencies are facing due to people getting COVID-19 or being forced to self-isolate. 

"The concern is just with the higher number of cases, we wouldn't be able to deploy to all communities needing support."

She said that First Nations are feeling the impacts of health-care staffing shortages more acutely, since they don't have many health-care workers to begin with. 

At least 10 communities are in some kind of lockdown to help stop the spread of COVID-19. 

That includes St. Theresa Point, which has implemented a full community lockdown as of Sunday, telling people to stay in their homes unless they are essential workers, and closing all businesses. 

Last weekend, NDP MP for Churchill–Keewatinook Aski Niki Ashton told reporters that the chiefs she's talking to are overwhelmed by how many sick people — including children — they have in their communities and that support workers are themselves getting sick.

She publicly called on the federal government to send in military support. 

Anderson said her team and other First Nations leaders, such as Grand Chief Arlen Dumas of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, are regularly talking to the federal and provincial governments about what kind of support might be needed for communities dealing with outbreaks.