Coronavirus – or COVID-19 – has taken over our lives and has become rightfully the number one news story in the world. Nothing is more important than our health so included in this post are three items that are specific to COVID-19 and Indigenous people:
- A NationTalk video link to an Indigenous Services Canada update video outlining the Government of Canada’s initiatives to support Indigenous people in dealing with COVID-19.
- A link to an APTN National News site “The COVID-19 Pandemic that contains detailed COVID-19 information with multiple links to articles and stories as well as detailed updates from each province and territory under “Latest Health Updates”.
- What is COVID-19?
- Should Indigenous communities be worried?
- What should you do?
- How sick will you get?
- How does it spread?
- Latest health updates
- A link to a new NationTalk website “Indigenous Health Today” whose first issue is focused specifically on addressing COVID-19 from an Indigenous perspective.
“Strengthened communications is critical across our Nations to keep us safe; NationTalk stands by the recent WHO request in taking urgent, aggressive action for the safety of our Peoples through implementation of this important resource.”– Don Barraclough, President, NationTalk
Monday, March 16, 2020 – Toronto – With the declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic, Canada’s premier voice for Indigenous Peoples, NationTalk, launches www.IHtoday.ca and is providing FREE listing services on Indigenous Health Today to further enable, support and communicate within our Nations, provinces, and territories on one single platform.”Our communities require this, and as a private enterprise, we are best positioned to provide this non-partisan and sustainable network.” says Don Barraclough, President & Founder of NationTalk. “We began Indigenous Health Today from the need to drive awareness and communicate important health matters. Early and transparent communication builds trust and ensures the credibility of public health advice.”
Research shows that the uncertainty tied in with pandemics results in a high demand for information so people can make informed decisions, address and correct misinformation and speculation-which remains a challenge given the rapid dissemination of information through social media platforms.”A reliable solution is providing Indigenous Health Today at no cost as a technology platform but what is also needed is a secure communications tool for a health professionals to securely exchange information that promotes early diagnosis and closes the gab between Indigenous and fellow Canadians”, says Barraclough.
The above information from APTV National News and Indigenous Health Today will be updated on a regular basis.