'We can make these decisions,' Peguis chief says about relaxed holiday COVID-19 restrictions

Peguis First Nation will allow some visits during "relaxed lockdown" days over the winter holidays — a decision the chief says is possible because COVID-19 restrictions have worked.

Extended family and students, including those living off-reserve, will be allowed to visit one household from Dec. 23 to 28, and over New Year's Eve from Dec. 31-Jan 1, a post on the community's website states.

"I know the province has restrictions, but we are on federal land. We are our own sovereign nation, and we can make these decisions," said Chief Glenn Hudson.

As of Monday afternoon, Peguis had no new cases and three active cases of COVID-19. To date, there have been 194 cases and one death on the First Nation. Peguis still lists itself as being at a "high risk" state for community spread.

Hudson said Peguis went into lockdown five weeks before the rest of Manitoba, allowing them to get infection numbers under control ahead of the holidays.

"We felt that as a council we would look at ... rewarding people for doing so well," he said.

Peguis' restrictions tougher than rest of Manitoba: Chief

During the "relaxed" lockdown days, one household member is allowed to leave to get essentials. There is a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. Any visitor not following rules could be fined and asked to leave, the community warns.

Off-reserve members who want to visit need to pre-register and provide contact information.

"We're not promoting people coming in. We're not saying stay away. It's going to be up to individual households what they want to do," Hudson said.

The chief says in some ways, Peguis' visitor restrictions will be tighter than the rest of Manitoba.

"Who is stopping people from coming from Saskatchewan, or Alberta, or northern Ontario to come and visit their families [in Manitoba]? Who is registering them, taking their names, and monitoring that? Nobody," he said.

Hudson said the decision was made in consultation with elders and health-care workers.

"We are more prepared than we have ever been," he said.

With 11,000 members, only 4,800 — less than half — live on Peguis First Nation, meaning many family members have been separated, Hudson said.

Each First Nation will decide what's best: Southern Chiefs

Each First Nation will likely decide what is best for them over the holidays, according to the Grand Chief of the Southern Chiefs Organization, which represents southern Manitoba First Nations.

"Peguis has taken a pretty proactive approach, long before the province started moving. I think they had to, and a lot of our communities had to," Grand Chief Jerry Daniels said.

While some First Nations have successfully kept COVID-19 under control, others still can't get members to follow safety measures and lockdowns, Daniels said.

Since each First Nation has jurisdiction over its own land, they get to decide what visiting can happen based on their individual health situation, he said.

"First Nations never agreed to allow the province's laws to run our communities," Daniels said.

Only gather with household: First Nations pandemic response team

While Peguis is faring well in the pandemic, other First Nations in Manitoba are not. In northern Manitoba, Shamattawa First Nation has called in the military, and between 70 to 80 per cent of the COVID-19 tests are coming back positive.

Overall, First Nations continue to suffer harder in the pandemic: the test positivity rate for all of Manitoba's First Nations is at 25 per cent — nearly double the province's already staggering overall rate.

On Friday Melanie Mackinnon, who leads the pandemic response team established by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, urged all First Nations against any visiting outside immediate households — including over the holidays.

"We don't have the health and human resources locally in your nursing stations or health centres. We are thin on the ground with rapid response teams. Christmas is coming. Hospitals are full. ICUs are filling up. This is a very, very critical moment for all of us," Mackinnon said during a briefing. 

"I'm really appealing to all of our community members, whether you're on or off reserve, please, let's just slow down and settle down right now, for us to have some semblance of a Christmas with the family members that are within our households."

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs would not comment Monday on Peguis' decision to allow visits.

Manitoba's chief public health officer also advised on Monday against holiday gatherings.

"If we have a lot of gatherings — even on just one day — we're set up for a lot of transmission. We'll start seeing the results of that a week or two after the holiday," Dr. Brent Roussin said.

"My strong advice is to limit any gathering outside of your household."