First Nations and their allies tackle Quebec’s Omicron wave – CBC

Indigenous communities are seeing unprecedented numbers of COVID-19 cases

Jan 15, 2022

Many Indigenous communities in Quebec that were spared in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic are now seeing case numbers soar. It’s a situation that has leaders and experts concerned.

“It’s a tsunami of cases, which have almost tripled since the beginning of the year,” said Dr. André Corriveau, public health adviser for the First Nations of Quebec and Labrador Health and Social Services Commission (FNQLHSSC).

Compounding the problem, these same communities have fewer medical resources and are dealing with crowded housing conditions and many people with underlying health conditions.

In Montreal, Dr. Stanley Vollant, an Innu from the community of Pessamit and the first Quebec-born Indigenous surgeon, thinks people who were asymptomatic likely brought the virus into remote First Nations.

“[It’s] four times, five times higher than the first and the second wave of COVID,” Vollant said. “We have to be very careful and aware to protect our elders.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/indigenous-communities-quebec-fifth-wave-1.6312700