'The north is not uniform': A northern Sask. perspective on COVID-19

For as long as I remember we have been trying to tell the rest of Saskatchewan that things in the north are different. When it comes to the COVID-19 virus, there are some northern realities that must be considered.

If you are a resident of northern Saskatchewan you have a 74 per cent chance of dying prematurely. The leading cause of death in this territory is injury, with the most common injury leading to death being suicide, followed by motor vehicle accidents.

If you live here, you probably live in an overcrowded house that requires major repairs. We have higher rates of tuberculosis in the north, up to 22 times greater than the rest of the province. That is directly related to overcrowded households.

We are used to southern governments ignoring our voices. The south has continually shown that they do not understand the dynamics of the northern half of the province.

The north is different

Prairie thinking doesn't work here. The provincial government should know this stuff, but over and over again they show that they don't understand even the simple stuff about the north.

The recent fiasco with the blockades is an example. First the government imposed the blockades without adequate consultation. Then they sought and obtained agreement by most of the northern communities. Then they put in exemptions at the blockades for two communities that renders the blockade south of La Ronge useless.

The decision about blockades or anything else to do with Covid-19 should not be political. These decisions should be made by the Medical Health Officer based on accurate data, and hopefully the Medical Health Officer for the province is listening to northern doctors.

The north is not uniform. There are huge variances.

Our overcrowded homes are breeding places for this virus, and our strong need for each other without which we are susceptible to suicide limits our ability to self-isolate.- Harold Johnson

In some communities the average annual income is less than $7,000. In one or two others, it's higher than the provincial average.

In general, poverty seems perpetual across the north. We've known since Sir Michael Marmot's famous Whitehall study (1967-77) that there is a distinct correlation between health and income. Lower income means lower health outcomes. The more impoverished a population, the more likely that population will experience disease and early death.

Our education levels in the north are far below the provincial average. Far fewer of us have high school or trade school educations. Even fewer have university degrees. Our employment levels are dismal. Add to this a sense of hopelessness and dependence that has persisted across generations and then when you are feeling completely frustrated that change never seems available throw in COVID-19.

The good and the bad

The north has many advantages: a mostly pristine environment (even despite out-of-control clear-cutting), a young energetic population, and close community and family relationships. We have a good sense of who we are, where we are from and who we are related to. We have a sense of belonging, of bonding. We are more likely to speak an Aboriginal language in our homes. We have an affinity for nature.

But when we add COVID-19 to the mix, even our positive attributes turn against us.

With a young population that believes it is immortal, along with messaging that they are less susceptible to COVID-19, young people are less likely to abide by physical distancing rules. They are young, energetic and want to party.

Alcohol has been deemed an essential service and is readily available. One doctor in La Ronge has publicly criticized the increase in house parties since the imposition of self-isolating and the resultant increase in work for the local emergency room.

Yes, addictions in the north are an issue. But addictions alone doesn't account for the increased workload on emergency workers.Most of it is just people getting drunk and being stupid, fighting and falling down, or drinking so much they poison themselves. Our immune system, which is our only real defence against this virus, is weakened by alcohol consumption. The harder we party, the more susceptible we become.

I had hoped that with the closing of the bars and lounges the workload on the RCMP would go down. I was wrong. In personal conversations with police Sergeants in this area, I have been told that there has been no change in calls for service related to alcohol. They are not being called to the bar, but they are still being called.

We have a strong sense of family. We don't visit as much now as in my mother's day, when visiting was an art form, but we still keep regular contact. It's normal to just drop in on someone without phoning ahead. The rule is, if someone drops in for a visit unexpectedly, you invite them in, offer them something to eat, drop whatever you were doing and visit.

We are not likely to abandon these engrained conventions. They are too much part of who we are. And it's family. You have to accommodate family. Physical distancing rules have to come second.

Because of our sense of belonging and our need to be accepted, we are afraid of being outcast. We are less likely to get tested for a virus, because if we have it, people might shun us.

This is not just an individual issue. Communities worry that they will be smeared if people there are found to have the virus.

'It will hit us hard'

It seems everything that comes from the south hits the north later and harder. HIV rates in Saskatchewan peaked a couple years before they did in the north, but our peak was several times greater than in the south. TB hit the far north hard and still persists. We remember small pox and influenza outbreaks and we've all heard the stories.

We expect this new virus to behave the same. It will hit us, and it will hit us hard. We are physically weakened by our poverty. Our overcrowded homes are breeding places for this virus, and our strong need for each other without which we are susceptible to suicide limits our ability to self-isolate.

We need to prepare for the worst while we pray for the best.

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