State of Emergency declared in Lac Seul First Nation

Tim Brody - Editor

Lac Seul First Nation Chief and Council declared a State of Emergency within the First Nation on May 1.

A Code Red Lockdown order was implemented in the First Nation on May 1. 

Chief and Council, along with Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority (SLFNHA), declared an outbreak in Lac Seul First Nation on April 30.

On May 2, Lac Seul advised of three new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed positive cases in Lac Seul to 16.

“Chief and Council cannot stress enough how important it is to stay home. The community is experiencing a COVID-19 outbreak and the best way to get ahead of these positive cases is to eliminate possible spread between people,” Lac Seul First Nation advised in an Community Notice on May 2.

“COVID-19 case numbers are growing in our communities, and it will take everyone working together to bring these numbers down. Please do your part to protect our community by staying home and staying safe,” the Community Notice stated. 

SLFNHA advised on Facebook that case and contact management continues and the SLFNHA Preventing Infectious Diseases (PID) team will continue to monitor the situation and support the community.

Chief Clifford Bull shared the following statement with The Bulletin on the current State of Emergency, “We as First Nation peoples have always been very resilient. We’ve had pandemics in the past, and we’re still here. We need to be very vigilant and work together. We have a highly specialized effective team here, strong advisement from SLFNHA, support from surrounding communities, agencies, health professionals and the provincial and federal government. All these people are here for support and help.”