COVID-19 in Indigenous communities: Active cases in First Nations continue to rise – CBC

Active cases of the virus doubled to 1,319 in the last week

Sep 01, 2021

The number of active cases of COVID-19 in First Nations communities has doubled in the last week as the fourth wave of the pandemic continues to hit many parts of Canada.

As of Aug. 31, there were 1,319 active cases of the virus in First Nations across the country, according to the latest data from Indigenous Services Canada, up from 609 active cases of the virus as of Aug. 23.

The majority of new infections were reported in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Dr. Tom Wong, chief medical officer of public health for Indigenous Services Canada, said the delta variant has been the driving force behind many of the recent outbreaks.

“The delta variant is more contagious than other variants and also it’s associated with a more severe manifestation of infection,” he said.

“What concerns me is that there’s still a number of individuals not yet vaccinated.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/indigenous-covid-19-update-1.6161177