The Flin Flon district is down to three active cases of COVID-19, but cases elsewhere in northern Manitoba are seeing spikes.
The Flin Flon/Snow Lake/Cranberry Portage/Sherridon district has three active cases, according to provincial government data released Dec. 14. Thirty-one people in the district have had the disease and recovered since the pandemic began. One death related to COVID-19 was also reported.
Outbreak designations at the Flin Flon Personal Care Home and Northern Lights Manor are still in place as of Monday.
Throughout the north, 23 new cases of COVID-19 were announced Dec. 14, far below the number of cases reported in the region days earlier. The Northern Health Region reported 136 new cases Dec. 11, more than twice the highest previous reported number of cases.
While active cases in much of the district are in decline, that is not the case for much of the north. The region is at its highest level of active cases yet, with 683 people actively sick in the region as of Dec. 14. Much of those cases are centred around two remote northern districts - the Shamattawa/York Factory/Tataskweyak/Split Lake and Island Lake districts. According to provincial data, 252 people in the Shamattawa district have active cases of COVID-19, while Island Lake has 143 active cases. Both districts' case loads are still rising each day.
The Shamattawa district numbers are spurred on by a community outbreak on Shamattawa First Nation, where the disease has spread out of control. The small community on the Gods River has been the site of, per capita, northern Manitoba's worst COVID-19 outbreak yet. Canadian Armed Forces personnel began arriving in the community last week, with more on their way earlier this week, to boost medical care and to assist emergency personnel.
Meanwhile, the Island Lake situation has been exasperated by increased COVID-19 spread in the community of Red Sucker Lake. While the number of cases in the community is unknown, cases in the district have risen steadily over the past two weeks.
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski MP Niki Ashton - who, along with being the MP for Flin Flon, also represents both Shamattawa and Red Sucker Lake - said stories have come in from Red Sucker Lake residents about the community's situation.
"People are telling me they are terrified of what is happening. The First Nation has called for assistance from the federal government including military assistance. I have been advised by the community that a military mission will be arriving," reads a Dec. 14 statement from Ashton.
"The community has identified a full range of needs, even something as basic as the need to fly cleaning supplies made they have already purchased."
Ashton said communities like Red Sucker Lake can be particularly vulnerable to COVID-19 spread, saying northern Indigenous communities - most of which do not have hospitals - should be prioritized when vaccines are distributed.
"The crisis in Red Sucker Lake, like in Shamattawa point to how quickly a spread of covid-19 can occur. This crisis also highlights the critical need for medical resources to be made available in and outside the community," Ashton said.
"This crisis also highlights the fact that First Nations must receive the vaccine they need and deserve on a priority basis."
Throughout the province, Manitoba reported 241 new cases of COVID-19 Dec. 14 and nine deaths from the disease, all in southern communities. Six of the nine people who died were linked to outbreaks at health facilities or seniors' residences.
Saskatchewan
The COVID-19 situation to the west is staying around the same.
Saskatchewan reported 269 new cases Dec. 14, including four new cases in the far north east 2 zone, which includes Creighton, Denare Beach, Pelican Narrows, Sandy Bay and other nearby communities. The zone now has 112 active cases of the disease as of Monday. According to the Angelique Canada Health Centre - the health centre for Pelican Narrows - 78 people within Pelican Narrows have COVID-19, with one person hospitalized due to the disease. The centre has reported that one person has died from COVID-19 in the community.
Throughout the province, 124 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, with 27 people in intensive care.
