FORT WILLIAM FIRST NATION – COVID-19 testing performed in Fort William First Nation over the weekend will help guide the community’s decision-making on potential reopening, said Chief Peter Collins.
About 150 drive-through tests were administered by paramedics with Superior North EMS through their mobile testing initiative on Saturday. The service has previously been offered at locations within the city of Thunder Bay. The results, expected early this week, will represent a significant sample of the community, which has an on-reserve population of around a thousand.
Collins said the band council would be watching results carefully to inform its next steps.
“We’ll wait for all the results to come in and we’ll see what we do after that,” he said. “Our council is paying attention to everything that’s going on. This will be the end result of whether we open up and take down the barricades.”
Access to residential areas of the community is currently guarded by a COVID-19 checkpoint. Non-community members are able to access businesses along City Road, as well as Chippewa Park.
Despite encouragingly low numbers in the region – the Thunder Bay district had only two active COVID-19 cases as of Sunday – Collins said it’s important to stay vigilant.
“We’re all less worried when we see the numbers dropping, but we’re also mindful that the virus has not gone away and we still have to be careful of how we interact with other people,” he said. “I think it’s important just to have everybody tested so we feel comfortable when we finally open the community right up again.”
Shane Muir, the community paramedicine coordinator with Superior North EMS, agreed that testing remains crucial as COVID-19 restrictions begin to be lifted.
“It really gives us a good sense of surveillance in the communities, and we can track the virus really well that way,” he said.
As reopening proceeds, it will be important to monitor sectors and populations that have proven more vulnerable to outbreaks, Muir added.
“Going forward, I think we’re going to be looking at corrections settings, retirement homes, assisted living centres – and kind of congregate living situations – and vulnerable populations.”
