To all Community Members,
With the growing global concerns around COVID-19 (Coronavirus), we want you to know that the health and safety of our community members and employees’ is our top priority, and we are following the advice of the Canadian public health authorities at all times.
To date, the Public Health Agency of Canada has assessed the current COVID-19 public health risk associated with coronavirus as low, and with your safety in mind, we are closely monitoring their assessments for developments.
This morning we had an emergency meeting with staff and service providers to discuss our plan to ensure the health and safety is protected for the community. As of 10:00 am Friday March 13th 2020 our pandemic plan has been declared in operation.
Our current health and safety measures include:
· All Nigigoonsiminikaaning offices and programs that are not considered essential or emergency services will remain closed until we feel the situation is under control. The band office, daycare, and all other offices will be closed.
- All March Break activities are CANCELLED
- Yesterday, based on advice from Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health and the experts at the COVID-19 Command Table, the Minister of Education issued a Ministerial Order to close all publicly funded schools in Ontario for two weeks following March break, in response to the emergence in Ontario of COVID-19. This means that Ontario schools have been ordered to remain closed from March 14 through to April 5, 2020.
Protecting each other
If you are feeling unwell, please refrain from visiting other community members. Please contact emergency staff to report and get help or advice.
Please take precautions to protect yourself. Regular hand washing and sanitizing of hard surfaces. Avoiding close contact and maintaining distance from people when talking, etc.
As mentioned previously, we will continue to monitor this situation closely and provide ongoing updates as needed. We also encourage you to stay up-to-date through the Canada’s Public Health website.
In times like these it is important that we stay calm and be prepared. We do not want to cause panic and are just taking these measures to be prepared and ensure the safety of the community as best we can.
Miigwech
Chief Will Windigo |