As the Lac La Ronge Indian Band addresses approximately a dozen COVID-19 cases, testing, contact tracing and community support are now what the First Nation is focusing on.
Stanley Mission has six confirmed cases, as Chief Tammy Cook-Season said that community is in lockdown, with massive testing and sanitization underway.
“What we’re doing is we’re doing testing. So, we’ve set up test sites in Stanley Mission over the weekend. We have to do surge capacity. And then the other thing that the community did was in Stanley Mission, they shut everything down. They deep cleaned all the buildings, the public facilities in the community. And then the other thing, the stores also closed their doors to be cleaned, and the clinic was also shut down,” Cook-Searson said.
The schools in Stanley Mission are also closed for cleaning. A testing facility is established in Stanley Mission at the Band Office.
She explained that while testing in that community is going well, there are still a lot pending case results, due to a backlog in processing in Regina.
The First Nation has been reminding residents to stay vigilant as the virus is present, including staying home if unwell or if you have been in close contact with a positive case.
“We’ve been reminding people to stay put, the ones that have been direct contacts to the positive cases. And then we’ve been providing support to them. So medical supplies and grocery supplies for the ones that have that asked because we don’t have the names of the people that have tested positive for other than if we try and get those supports to the nurse. So, people have been working really hard,” said Cook-Searson.
“All throughout since we have confirmed cases in our communities and making sure that the ones that have tested positive that they’re getting the support that they need in their homes and that nurses are checking on them daily, and then they have contact numbers in case their symptoms get worse.”
A checkpoint was established in Stanley Mission, only allowing for essential travel and services. Other checkpoints include; Sucker River, Hall Lake and Grandmothers Bay.
There is one case in La Ronge and three new cases in Little Red, which Cook-Searson said is not linked to two previously identified cases from approximately two weeks-ago.
Public health officials remind residents to wash their hands, maintain physical distancing and if you develop symptoms self-isolate and seek testing.