First Nation monitors 258 for virus

SIKSIKA NATION, Alta. — A First Nation in southern Alberta has implemented a curfew as its health workers monitor more than 200 people for signs they may have developed COVID-19.

Siksika Nation Chief Ouray Crowfoot said in video messages posted on Facebook last week there were 21 known COVID-19 positive cases with links to the community west of Calgary. Five separate and unrelated case clusters had been uncovered in the previous 12 days.

Crowfoot said 258 Siksika Nation members were under “active investigation and daily followup” by the community’s health services team. The number, he said, had quadrupled in only three days.

On Friday, councillors approved a temporary curfew from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., with exceptions that, Crowfoot said, can be made on an as-needed basis for work or other reasons.

Crowfoot encouraged Siksika Nation members to co-operate with health officials if they call and to avoid non-essential travel to cities. He said the risk of community transmission is high and each new case cluster makes it even harder to contact- trace and isolate people fast enough.

“We realize you have freedom of choice, but we don’t have freedom of consequence,” Crowfoot said in a video message posted Thursday. “If we choose not to follow these guidelines, the consequence may be that we contract the virus and spread the virus further through our community.”

In a message Friday, Crowfoot said his community had met federal Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller and Alberta Indigenous Affairs Minister Rick Wilson to address shortfalls in resources for dealing with the pandemic.