Manataba Messenger

Page 4 COVID-19 science: Why testing is so important By Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, American Heart Association Chief Medical Officer for Prevention When an infectious disease outbreak begins, public health officials' ideal response is to start testing for it early. That leads to quick identification of cases, quick treatment for those people, and immediate isolation to prevent spread. Early testing also helps to identify anyone who came into contact with infected people so they too can be quickly treated. It's crucial to help treat, isolate, or hospitalize infected people. Testing also is important in the bigger public health picture on mitigation efforts, helping investigators characterize the prevalence, spread, and contagiousness of the disease. Compared to China and South Korea, testing in the United States appears to have been insufficient for optimal early containment. And now, we see a rapid rise in hospitaliza- tions that is overwhelming public health systems and clinical care systems. These systems, lacking vital equipment to test and provide timely results and staff to address "positives," are now bracing for more critically ill patients in the coming days and weeks. A big part of the problem is the inability to conduct "contact investigations." These inves- tigations involve figuring out everyone an infected person may have been in contact with. This requires a lot of time and labor – two resources that aren't available in a strained system. It's easy to see how quickly cases can spread without information from contact investigations. Another important kind of test is one that determines if a person has already had COVID- 19. When a person is infected with a novel virus such as SARS-CoV-2 (the scientific name for this specific coronavirus), the person's immune system has never "seen" that virus before. As the virus reproduces, it causes manifestations of the disease – fever, cough, and so on – and triggers an immune response. The immune response is how the body fights the virus and protects itself. The immune system activates, produces, and mobilizes a variety of protective cells and molecules that attack the "foreign" virus. After that, the immune system will recognize the virus and protect the person by destroying it if it returns. The key to that protection is the work of molecules called antibodies. When tests turn up the presence of disease-specific antibodies, it's considered evidence of past exposure and infection. While the no-longer-infected person is out of danger, the information about past infection status is extremely valuable. Confirming that someone has had the disease and is immune helps public health officials and others understand the level of immunity in a population. A high percentage of peo- ple with immunity adds to "herd immunity," which protects the larger community. Knowing who has been infected is vital because people with immunity from COVID-19 can safely work in essential settings such as health care, public safety, and the service industry. They also can work in "non-essential" settings with less need for extreme per- sonal protection. Furthermore, for clinical care, testing for seroconversion – the scientific name for going from non-infected to infected to immune – can identify people whose plasma contains COVID-19-specific antibodies. This plasma could, theoretically, be used for infusions to treat the disease and prevent its severe complications. The use of such plasma, called convalescent plasma, is not new. It was a treatment approach during the 1918 flu pandemic. When we look back at the first wave of COVID-19 in the United States, testing data will help us develop a full picture of the epidemiology and course of this disease. The data can provide important puzzle pieces for stopping or slowing the disease in the future. Editor's note: Because of the rapidly evolving events surrounding the coronavirus, the facts and advice presented in this story may have changed since publication. Visit Heart.org for the latest coverage, and check with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local health officials for the most recent guidance. Colorado River Indian Tribes Press Releases: COVID-19 Testing Results Thirty-eight New Positive Cases of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 8, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of six new positive case of coron- avirus resulting from an individual who was tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. These individuals a residents of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 140 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. One individual is hospi- talized locally. Six New Positive Cases of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 5, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of six new positive case of coron- avirus resulting from an individual who was tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. These individuals a residents of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 102 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Of these cases, two indi- viduals are hospitalized locally and one individual is hospitalized outside the area. Fourteen New Positive Case of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 4, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of fourteen new positive case of coro- navirus resulting from an individual who was tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. These individuals a residents of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 96 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Of these cases, two indi- viduals are hospitalized locally and one individual is hospitalized outside the area. One New Positive Cases of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 3, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of one new positive case of coron- avirus resulting from an individual who was tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. This individual is a resident of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 82 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Of the CRIT cases, two individuals are hospitalized locally and one individual is hospitalized outside the area. Four New Positive Cases of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 2, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of four new positive cases of coron- avirus resulting from individuals who were tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. These individuals are residents of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 81 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. Of the CRIT cases, one individual is hospitalized outside the area. Thirty-Six New Positive Cases of Coronavirus for the Colorado River Indian Tribes—- June 1, 2020 The Colorado River Indian Tribes has been notified of thirty-six new positive cases of coronavirus resulting from individuals who were tested at the Parker Indian Health Center. These individuals are residents of the Colorado River Indian Reservation. This brings the total to 77 positive cases for the Colorado River Indian Tribes. A Resolution to Extend Resolution No. 54-20 Requiring All Non-Essential Businesses to Close and all Non-Essential Personnel to Stay at Home Until June 30th, 2020—-May 29, 2020 Be it resolved by the Tribal Council of the Colorado River Indian Tribes of the Colorado River Indian Reservation, in special meeting assembled on May 28, 2020 . WHEREAS, the Colorado River Indian Tribes (hereinafter “CRIT” or “Tribes”) is a feder- ally recognized Indian Tribe, duly organized with a tribal governing body known as the Tribal Council according to the provisions contained in the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934; and WHEREAS, Article VI, Section 1(v) of the Constitution of the Colorado River Indian Tribes authorizes the Tribal Council to promulgate ordinances and resolu- tions providing for the administration of the health, education and welfare of members of the tribes. WHEREAS, the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020; the United States Health and Human Services declared a Public Health Emergency related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak on January 31, 2020; the World Health Organization officially declared a pandemic due to COVID-19 on March 11, 2020; and the United States declared a National Emergency on March 13, 2020; and CRIT also declared an emergency for the Reservation on March 13, 2020 ; and WHEREAS, the Colorado River Indian Tribes approved Resolution No. 54-20 on April 1, 2020 requiring all non-essential businesses to close and all non-essential personnel to stay at home until April 30, 2020 and Resolution CONTINUED PAGE 5 Following the rules of Coronavirus prevention and testing ends lockdowns.