b"COVID-19 PANDEMICCRISIS By Matthew BradfordNTO P O FA CRISISOThe far-reaching impact of COVID-19 on Ontario'snorthern Indigenous communities C OVID-19 has touched the lives of CanadiansSince access to opioids, alcohol and stimulants was interrupted across the country. That includes the thousandsin northern communities early on, we also saw a lot of cases of Indigenous women who call northern Ontarioof withdrawal. When you have withdrawal in a household, it their home. For insight into how they and theirimpacts everybody. That includes any Elders or kids living in the communities have been impacted, and how theyve come togethersame home. So, our response through Nishnawbe Aski Nation's for support, we spoke with Mae Katt, nurse practitioner and(NANs) COVID-19 Task Team was to develop withdrawal Indigenous healthcare trailblazer in Thunder Bay, Ontario. management guidelines for those addictive substances based on input from physicians who are in the Mental Health and Substance Given your role on the frontlines, how have you seenUse Working Group. We also conducted a webinar with healthcare COVID-19 impact Indigenous women and their families inprofessionals to guide them on how they can adapt their role northern communities?during the pandemic when theyre helping people manage their addictions remotely and hundreds of miles away from an emer-For the most part, COVID-19 has intensified issues that alreadygency department. existed, which put Indigenous women at greater risk in their homes and community. For one, we noticed that illicit drug supplies were being interrupted in the early part of COVID-19 because of the lockdown, and what was coming onto the streets were fairly toxic drugs that led to a number of overdoses. In the city of Thunder Bay, for example, 40 per cent of the overdoses since March (2020) have been experienced by Indigenous people, a number of which were women from remote northern commun-ities. We know this because we know their parents and the children theyve left behind.14Fall/Winter 2020"