CONTINUED EASING OF SOME RESTRICTIONS

Tansi!

Variants

It is almost one year since we declared a STATE OF EMERGENCY on March 20, 2020. Unfortunately, this pandemic is not over yet and we must be more careful than ever as there are new variants of the virus that are spreading more rapidly and are more deadly. Ontario has entered a third wave and there is an outbreak in Regina. Both the UK and South African variant are circulating in Manitoba.

ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN IN WINNIPEG RECENTLY, PLEASE NOTE THAT TODAY MANITOBA PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUED A WARNING OF A POTENTIAL EXPOSURE TO THE UK VARIANT FOR ANYONE WHO WAS AT THE COSTCO ON ST. JAMES STREET IN WINNIPEG ON SUNDAY MARCH 7th. IF YOU WERE THERE OR IF SOMEONE YOU HAVE BEEN IN CONTACT WITH WAS THERE PLEASE MONITOR YOURSELF FOR SYMPTOMS AND IF YOU DEVELOP ANY SYMPTOMS CONTACT OUR PUBLIC HEALTH TEAM IMMEDIATELY.

This situation is rapidly evolving and we are having to adapt our measures quickly to keep all of us as safe as possible.

Vaccine

Community vaccination clinics are being planned to start as early as the end of March. To help expedite the planning process we are asking all NCN Citizens and residents living in the community to pre-register by completing a vaccine consent form which can be picked up at the Family and Community Wellness Centre. In the meantime, all First Nation adults 53 and older or other residents 73 and older can obtain a vaccine in Thompson. The Safeway Pharmacy in Thompson is also taking appointments. We hope all adults over the age of 18 will be vaccinated within the next month. We will provide more information about the vaccination process within the next week.

Shopping

Thank you to all NCN Citizens who followed the rules and were careful during their recent shopping trips to Thompson. As it went well and the numbers in Thompson and Winnipeg are currently lower, we have decided to continue to allow some easing of restrictions. The following changes are effective today:

  • The number of persons allowed to travel to Thompson to shop for supplies will be increased from 25 to 40 vehicles on each allowable shopping day but trips must still be approved by the Pandemic Response Team;
  • Thompson shopping days will be Tuesday to Saturday from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm;
  • Travel to southern Manitoba will be allowed upon authorization from the Pandemic Response Team in accordance with an approved mitigation plan and that each person keeps a record of places visited (for contact tracing).
  • NO out of province travel is allowed – anyone that is currently out of the province and intends to return to the community will be required to isolate for 14 days in accordance with the direction from the NCN Director of Health or designate;
  • Family camping will be allowed with authorization from the Pandemic Response Team;
  • Certain outdoor events will be allowed if pre-authorized and all COVID restrictions are followed – e.g. the RCMP Youth Fishing Derby on Sunday March 21st;
  • Persons who left the community earlier in the pandemic must apply to the Pandemic Response Team for re-entry – this will be done very gradually in accordance with approved mitigation plans.

Beer Vendor

  • The beer vendor will be closed on Sundays.

We have gone almost a year with virtually no cases in our community and we want to keep it that way. We all have Pandemic Fatigue but we can’t give up now. This means ALL of the rules we have put in place must still be carefully followed as all it takes is one person to put our whole community at risk. We have already had a few close calls. We all need to remind ourselves that with freedom comes responsibility. Please continue to be responsible so we can all enjoy more freedoms.

Ekosani!