Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – In response to the current number of COVID-19 cases in Manitoba, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) Executive Council of Chiefs met today and welcomed Dr. Michael Routledge, Medical Officer of Health, First Nations & Inuit Health who provided an update on the province’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Routledge then responded questions from council members related to efforts in First Nations communities.

The ECC approved an initial framework regarding the AMC’s response to COVID-19 which will:

  1. postpone all AMC-related events until further notice;
  2. encourage each First Nation in Manitoba to complete their local pandemic / emergencyplans and encourage them to consider options that could include social distancing, closingtheir schools and daycares, and limiting social gatherings, and other measures;
  3. call on the Manitoba-provincial emergency incident response team to ensure that medicalsupplies are available to each First Nation in Manitoba; and
  4. direct the AMC to continue to meet with First Nations in Manitoba and others at theregional level, including the potentially provision of sanitation packages for each FirstNation, and regularly report to all First Nations leadership.

AMC Grand Chief Arlen Dumas stated “Manitoba First Nations have been planning and preparing for this pandemic for the last few weeks. We learned a lot from H1N1 and historical challenges, we take this responsibility seriously and committed to reducing the spread of the virus and will continue to work with regional and community partners.”

Chief Derrick Henderson of Sagkeeng First Nation, and a member of the AMC Chiefs Task Force on Health, stated “All levels of government need to work together, especially the federal government as it has a fiduciary obligation to First Nations to ensure required resources and supplies are provided to each First Nation in Manitoba in a timely manner, and impending food security issues are addressed.”