Sask. company sending isolation shelters to help with COVID-19 crisis on Northern Ont. First Nation
A company owned by a Saskatchewan First Nation is sending six shelters to a Northern Ontario First Nation hit hard by an outbreak of COVID-19.
Kashechewan First Nation, a remote community located along the coast of the Hudson Bay, is facing a COVID-19 outbreak affecting more than 10 per cent of the reserve’s population.
The severity of the outbreak is being blamed on a chronic housing shortage, resulting in crowded homes and a lack of places to isolate.
Pro Metal Industries, owned by Pasqua First Nation, is part of efforts to send aid to Kashechewan through a partnership with Indigenous Services Canada that was formed at the start of the pandemic.
“We've been into over 45 First Nations communities throughout Canada, and a lot of them being very remote, fly-in communities,” said President of Pro Metal Industries Mark Brown. “So dealing with Kashechewan right now, this is the biggest emergency that we responded to since the beginning of the pandemic, so we've had a lot of experience but not quite on this scale."
The six dome-shaped shelters headed to Kashechewan each have approximately 37 square metres of floor space, including two bedrooms, a bathroom, and kitchen suite.
Kashechewan is only accessible by plane in the winter, so the shelters will be flown in with other supplies and can be put together on-site within days.
The domes also come with the benefit of their own independent infrastructure.
“Basically, it’s fully self contained. Fresh water tanks, sewer tanks and all operated by a generator,” Brown explained. “They don’t have to be hooked into the infrastructure in Kashechewan, so that really adds to the rapid deployment of them.”
Richard Missens, president and CEO of the Pasqua First Nation Group of Companies, said the situation in Kashechewan is not unlike the problems many First Nations face around the country.
“Limited access to health services, overcrowded housing conditions, limited access to education, all of these challenges make it more difficult and compound the complexities of dealing with a pandemic like COVID,” Missens said.
All six shelters are either in transport or on the ground in Kashechewan, with the goal of getting them up and running in the coming weeks.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Potential tornado 'surreal' for residents who witnessed damaging storm in southern Ontario
Witnessing a potential tornado was 'surreal' for residents who caught a glimpse of the damaging storm in southern Ontario on Wednesday night.
Was this the bug that stung you? Wasp sightings revive murder-hornet concerns; no detections confirmed
As temperatures rise out of a mild El Nino winter, Canada's buggy season is already upon us again, and this year, the bugs are looking especially big.
WestJet planning new fare category for travellers willing to forgo carry-on bag
WestJet Airlines plans to launch a new cheaper fare category that would be available to travellers willing to fly without a carry-on bag.
'We'll need all hands on deck': Details emerge after deadly boat crash near Kingston, Ont.
Police say they have wrapped up their on-scene investigation into a deadly boat crash in eastern Ontario as details of the incident begin to emerge.
Jennifer Lopez's response to question about Ben Affleck is a reminder of their decades of love in the spotlight
Plenty of people are wondering if Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck are having problems in their marriage, but one person had the nerve to ask in a public forum.
Adding just 10% ultraprocessed foods to healthy diets may raise risk of cognitive decline, stroke
Eating more ultraprocessed foods is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and stroke, even if a person is trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet or the MIND diet, a new study found.
Cassie Ventura breaks her silence on 2016 video that showed her being physically assaulted by Sean 'Diddy' Combs
Cassie Ventura has shared a statement expressing her gratitude for the support she has received since CNN's publication of a 2016 surveillance video that showed her being physically assaulted by her then-boyfriend, Sean 'Diddy' Combs.
Bangkok hospital says most seriously injured from turbulence-hit flight need spinal operations
Many of the more seriously injured people who were on the Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence need operations on their spines, a Bangkok hospital said Thursday.
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished.