WINNIPEG -- The chief of a northern Manitoba First Nation is among those who have tested positive for COVID-19 in his community as it deals with a COVID-19 outbreak.
Red Sucker Lake First Nation Chief Samuel Knott confirmed to CTV News on Monday that he had tested positive and is experiencing mild symptoms.
“I’m one of the first ones who tested positive,” Knott said in a phone interview from isolation, noting his family has also tested positive.
Red Sucker Lake First Nation, located in northern Manitoba near the Ontario border, declared a state of emergency and a full lockdown on Friday due to the presence of COVID-19 in the community. Knott said it is not immediately known how many cases are in the community, but said 23 households have at least one positive or probable positive COVID-19 case.
“I don’t know how it got in, but it is a community transmission now,” he said.
Knott said he felt the community was doing okay at keeping COVID-19 out. It required people to isolate in a camp for two weeks if they arrive by air, and only allowed essential services, such as nurses and doctors, into the community.
Knott said people in the community are panicking over the presence of COVID-19.
“We’re in crisis, lives are in jeopardy,” he said, noting some elders have tested positive in the community.
Knott said a team of physicians and a rapid response official, along with members of the Canadian Armed Forces, are arriving in the community on Monday to assess where the need is greatest in the community. CTV Winnipeg has reached out to the federal government for more information about the response.
“It is important because we need the ground support for sure,” Knott said. “Our frontline workers and essential service workers are basically being told to isolate in order for us to contain (the spread of COVID-19).”
He added nurses in the community have been working to complete as many tests as possible.
“I want to commend them for their efforts,” he said.
