Manataba Messenger

To: From: Colorado River Indian Tribes Manataba Messenger 26600 Mohave Road, Parker, AZ 85344 www.manatabamessenger@gmail.com M anataba Vol. 6 Issue 37 The Official Publication of the Colorado River Indian Tribes CRIT Nation, Parker, Arizona 85344 ,, ,, ,, AhaMakhav Newewe Sinom ` Dine M essenger FREE OF CHARGE Website: www.crit-nsn.gov Facebook: CRIT Manataba Messenger Stay Calm. Stay Home. Be Smart. Be Kind. jx tÑÑÜxv|tàx çÉâÜ âÇwxÜáàtÇw|Çz tÇw Ñtà|xÇvx |Ç à{xáx âÇÑÜxvxwxÇàxw à|ÅxáA @VÉÄÉÜtwÉ e|äxÜ \Çw|tÇ gÜ|utÄ VÉâÇv|Ä CRIT maintaining strong initiatives in fighting pandemic CRIT TRIBAL COUNCIL ISSUE PRESS RELEASE: With more testing comes higher numbers FRIDAY, JUNE 5TH, 2020-05:02pm——The entire world has been battling the spread of COVID-19, a highly contagious and sometimes fatal disease for most of 2020. Indian Tribes are no different in their susceptibility to contracting such diseases as any other community. However, there are multiple reasons for the recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases on the Colorado River Indian Reservation. The Colorado River Indian Tribes has managed to hold off on any surge in cases during March, April, and early May despite a woeful lack of testing occurring at both the Parker Indian Health Center and La Paz County facilities. However, given that it was clear this disease was being passed through asymptomatic individuals, the Tribal Council demanded more significant test- ing of individuals at the Parker Indian Health Center. CRIT Tribal Council was repeated- ly told that there was a lack of testing supplies and that they were only testing per CDC guidelines. Despite the repeated demands to increase testing, including offering assis- tance with procuring testing supplies from the CRIT Tribal Council, Parker Indian Health Center did not begin to open up testing until later in May to asymptomatic individuals. It has only been in the past week that Parker Indian Health Center has started congregant facility testing or even discussing plans to do mass testing in the community AFTER we have seen the surge in cases.In mid-April, CRIT Tribal Council learned that testing sup- plies were available, if not abundant, contrary to information provided by Parker Indian Health Center. CRIT Tribal Council was able to contract with a lab at the end of April to begin mass testing of its tribal employees. Our testing started on May 6th, 2020. CRIT tested 244 employees, which exceeded all the testing conducted by Parker Indian Health Center, and La Paz County combined it to that date. At that time, no employees tested positive for COVID-19. Employee testing continued on May 20th, 2020, where another 224 employees were tested. Three employees were determined to be positive but were all non-tribal. CRIT Tribal Council will continue testing for the remainder of its employees on June 10th and 11th and will shortly thereafter begin its own mass or blitz testing for tribal members. We hope to offer the less invasive saliva-based test to the tribal member- ship.While CRIT Tribal Council was initially successful in our attempts to mitigate and slow the spread of Coronavirus within our tribal community, the recent surge in cases does follow the lifting of state at home orders in AZ and easing of restrictions in CA. As a community with several state highways running through it and high-level recreational traffic, it was expected that this virus would be able to gain a foothold here despite the CRIT stay at home order. While socioeconomic factors such as multi-generational house- holds contribute to the rapid spread of COVID-19, the increase in cases is also due to Parker Indian Health Center finally heeding Tribal Council’s demands for more aggres- sive testing and exhaustive contact tracing. Parker Indian Health Center has been follow- ing up on hundreds of contacts to ensure people who were potentially exposed quaran- tine themselves and get tested. In this process, we have discovered that there are a signif- icant number of asymptomatic individuals in the community. Given that testing has only recently started for asymptomatic individuals, it is no wonder cases have significantly increased during the past three weeks.CRIT continues to be transparent in the reporting of new cases from testing at Parker Indian Health Center. However, La Paz County has stopped issuing any releases regarding new cases since May 21st. Cases continue to increase in La Paz County but are no longer being reported. CRIT Tribal Council is com- mitted to the continued testing of its workforce and members to ensure we continue to have the data needed to make sound decisions regarding public health. 10 PM CURFEW STAYS IN EFFECT RESERVATION WIDE GATHERING RESTRICTIONS OF 6+ WILL BE ENFORCED ALL SEASONAL & RECREATIONAL VISITORS TO RESERVATION ARE REQUIRED TO COMPLY FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR TRIBAL MEMBERS & PERMANENT RESIDENTS RESERVATION ACCESS RESTRICTIONS TO THE COLORADO RIVER STAY IN PLACE CRIT STATE AT HOME ORDER RESOLUTION 54-20 IN EFFECT UNTIL JUNE 30, 2020 ALL RESIDENTS OF THE COLORADO RIVER INDIAN RESERVATION ORDERED TO COMPLY