ONEIDA NATION OF THE THAMES — Oneida Nation of the Thames has halting all community gatherings and imposed a curfew due to a massive outbreak in their community.
On January 10 the community of roughly 2200 band members has announced 36 new cases of COVID-19. That is a massive spike from the three cases previously reported on January 7.
Meanwhile an outbreak has also been declared at the Oneida Long Term Care Home among staff members. No residents were affected.
Oneida Elected Chief Adrian Chrisjohn says contact tracing shows the new cases are due to social gatherings held over the holidays. An 8pm curfew was established on January 10. The band says no social gatherings are permitted and violators will face fines of up to $750. The curfew and ban on social gatherings is in place for the next two weeks.
The community had been diligent to avoid spread of the virus on it’s territory — they were one of many First Nations in the province to close borders at the beginning of the pandemic to prevent community spread. The first on-reserve case was not detected until December 20, 2020.
All offices for the band were closed this week and are being sanitized.
