The Chief of Fort Hope First Nation is expressing grief and frustration as the first COVID-19 case has been confirmed in the remote northern community.
Harvey Yesno says its heartbreaking and horrific to know a community member is struggling against this virus, and the rest of the community is seriously at risk.
A man, who travelled from Thunder Bay, is now in self-isolation.
Chief Yesno says there were two people on the plane who were in contact with the positive case who got off in their community
He notes others, including two adults and an infant, went on to other First Nations in the north and that’s currently being worked on.
His concern is the government only provided them with 34 swabs to conduct tests.
“In our case. Just looking at those two individuals. Just taking a look at their families. Those 34 swabs will not cut it and they (the federal government) aren’t doing the testing.”
Chief Yesno stresses “We have been working around the clock to prepare…we knew this was possible; you can have the best possible local plan in place, but if your health care partners and Federal and Provincial governments don’t come to the table with real funding and real options to respond to this emergency at a broader scale, then you can’t implement your plan.”
He says he’s frustrated with the pace and limits of bureaucratic management of the crisis, noting he called for the highest levels of government to step in on March 13th.
He states “We provided detailed options and identified the extensive needs to be addressed. To date I have not heard or seen any plan to deal with proper medical assessment, isolation, or treatment of multiple cases in Eabametoong or among remote communities.”
The long serving First Nations leader is pointing to both levels of government.
“As you and I are just talking right now. A full day went by yesterday (Monday). Despite Ontario’s assurances late Sunday evening that we would have ‘on-the-ground action’ for increased testing of individuals in the community, including getting adequate Personal Protection Equipment and more medical personnel, well I can tell you absolutely nothing happened with the Ontario government.”
Chief Yesno says the most recent response was “We’re working on it.”
He adds on the Federal front his endless calls for help have fallen on death ears.
“I was not impressed. They minimized, discounted our ideas. We talked about deploying a Canadian Forces Army Field Hospital.”
Chief Yesno stresses “We know our community. We know what our facilities are. All we have is a Nurses Station, the key word there is ‘Nurses’. We don’t have facilities like some medical centres have in road access or urban communities.”
He says the only care they get is from visiting doctors and adds any equipment they have received, has already been distributed throughout the community.
Chief Yesno stresses action and answers are needed immediately before the one case turns into a full blown outbreak in the north.
To hear the complete interview with Chief Harvey Yesno, visit the Audio link below.
