Fort William First Nation declares a state of emergency with rising COVID-19 cases

Fort William First Nation (FWFN) has declared a state of emergency in relation to community spread of COVID-19 in the First Nation.

The declaration was made effective Wednesday night after a band council resolution was passed, immediately putting in place a daily curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m., with the exception of community member employment, essential services or medical needs.

The First Nation's chief executive officer Michael D. Pelletier said their health department is "quickly becoming overwhelmed by the recent surge in positive cases and then close contact cases."

Pelletier said 15 people had tested positive in the last five days in the community.

"If we have more positive cases, more close contacts, that's going to be a real strain on our system that could break down pretty soon."

The state of emergency requests support from the provincial and federal government for providing mass testing and contact tracing, including the FWFN as a priority community to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, getting additional police funding and establishing an isolation shelter with staff either in the community or in Thunder Bay.

At the moment, people in the First Nation that are self-isolating receive instructions for self-isolation from the health department, as well as food and cleaning packages.

But the isolation centre would ease the strain on the community by taking people out of households, some of which are overcrowded or only have one bathroom, according to the First Nation's chief executive officer.

Pelletier added that there are concerns with people not maintaining social distancing or following lockdown protocols.

"We're trying to get them to stay home and really enforce that," he said. "With the third wave, you see right now that people are not really listening to these things, and we have to really get them to listen and stay home."

Pelletier said Fort William First Nation was having a meeting with the provincial emergency operations centre on Thursday night to discuss what resources and supports would be made available.