FORT ALBANY FIRST NATION – Fort Albany First Nation has launched a two-week lockdown after a case of COVID-19 was confirmed in the remote community.
The First Nation, located on the Albany River off the James Bay, was notified Saturday of the positive case, it said in a release issued the same day.
In response, community leadership announced an immediate 14-day lockdown that came into force at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“There will be no regular/charter flights, due to the COVID-19 positive case(s) in the James Bay region,” the release stated. “This is also including the suspension of the community travel on the temporary travel corridor until further notice.”
Essential services and responders would continue to have access to the community, the letter emphasized.
The community had suspended non-essential air travel on Dec. 28, after five cases of COVID-19 were identified in nearby Moose Factory. However, the lockdown will impose further limits on winter road travelling in and out of the community.
Contact tracing had begun, the First Nation said, and the individual who tested positive was in self-isolation and being supported by health authorities.
