In locked down Dubbo, Wiradjuri elder Frank Doolan praises the Indigenous community's response to a COVID crisis heaping pressure on their lives and emotional wellbeing.
Indigenous people across western New South Wales are working hard to do the right thing in a COVID crisis that restricts their highly social lives and puts pressure on their emotional wellbeing, says one of the region's best-known elders.
First Nations people continue to make up the overwhelming majority of COVID-19 infections in western NSW. In Dubbo, which has most of the state's regional cases, Wiradjuri elder Frank Doolan — better known as "Riverbank Frank" — heaped praise on locals abiding by lockdown laws. "I feel a certain amount of pride in my people, even though their circumstances in many instances may not be conducive to this new phenomenon of lockdown it may not agree with Aboriginal people or the lives they lead," he said.He said while there were efforts to abide by the rules, isolation and time away from family had an impact on Indigenous mental health, particularly with intermingling and "the way we talk to each other" linked to sickness.
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