The First Nations Health Authority says difficult and painful sacrifices have paid off, when it comes to limiting the spread of COVID-19.

Doctor Shannon McDonald says 87 Indigenous people in B.C. have tested positive for the virus, and four have died, as of June 14.

“Of the 87 First Nations individuals, 42 live on or near a reserve. This is out of more than 5,500 tests that have been done so far. The credit for this relative success must go to the choices First Nations leaders have made, to implement strong public health measures.”

McDonald says Indigenous communities have made unnecessary travel “very limited.” And she says large gatherings that are central to culture have been cancelled or postponed.

“Thanks to an extraordinary response from our First Nations communities, the people FNHA serves have fared even better than the rest of the population, in the face of this unprecedented challenge.”

Meantime, McDonald says not every community is ready to move to Phase 3 of the economic restart plan.

“Am I concerned? Absolutely. And Dr. Henry has said previously that we know there will be cases. And that’s why our recommendations about physical distancing and hand-washing and not gathering in groups, and making sure surfaces are very clean, especially in service establishments, that those pieces will be in place to protect communities,” she says.

“And some communities will choose not to welcome guests. As I said earlier, they have self-determination. They are self-determining nations and they can make those choices, and I’m not going to disagree with them.”

McDonald says the decision to move to Phase 3 is a political one, but she acknowledges it has been made very carefully.