As Coronavirus cases increase, SD Tribes take precautions

RAPID CITY – As of March 10, cases of Coronavirus across the United States has increased to 800, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University which also reports at least 27 deaths from Coronavirus.
The disease has spread to all but 11 states and it was just a matter of time before it reached South Dakota.
Several South Dakota Indian tribes have begun preventative measures to contain a coronavirus outbreak on the reservations.
Last week the President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Rodney Bordeaux announced that RST will not allow tribal funded travel for employees and elected officials to areas that have tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Bordeaux said in a Friday release that the travel ban is focused on states with confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Bordeaux announced that the ban is effective until it is deemed safe to travel to the banned areas, and he also said that the ban could be expanded to other cities and states in the future if necessary.
The lack of test kits and number of unknowns surrounding the virus were Pres. Bordeaux’s main concerns in keeping the tribe’s citizens safe and reducing the spread of the virus.
On March 3, Oglala Lakota College President Tom Shortbull announced that due to the possible adverse impact of the Coronavirus that Oglala Lakota College will not be sending students to this month’s American Indian Higher Education Conference in Albuquerque, NM scheduled for March 21 – 24.
“Let me blunt about what is at risk in sending students to the AIHEC Spring Conference. If there is a contracting of the coronavirus, there is a high probability that students who come down with the virus will be able to easily recover from the illness. However, during the period of the incubation and illness, students can transmit the virus to another person. Those who would be at most risk of acquiring the virus through transmittal are the elderly and those who have poor health conditions. This is the risk that the College faces is sending students to this conference. Oglala Lakota College has chosen not to take this risk, and this is reason why OLC will not send students to the conference.”
During an emergency meeting to address the outbreak of coronavirus Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner also enacted a travel ban for tribal officials.
“I am hereby suspending all travel for Oglala Sioux Tribe employees and entities,” Bear Runner said in the release. He said the ban was effective immediately and any travel that is conducted would be only with his personal approval.
Bear Runner also asked people who don’t live on the reservation to stay away until restrictions are lifted.
“In order to further protect the health and general welfare of the Oglala Lakota Nation, I strongly recommend the general public coming from off the reservation to visit, to postpone your visits until a time deemed necessary that the travel suspension is lifted,” he said in the release.
He also asked tribal members to practice good hygiene habits and take precautions if they travel to areas known to have had an exposure to the disease and in airports and other public spaces.
Dean Seneca, the executive director of Seneca Scientific Solutions, who has a deep knowledge and experience with epidemics, is concerned about Indian Country’s preparedness for the coronavirus.
He said, the tribal epidemiology centers “don’t have the capacity to do good surveillance for the tribes regarding this.” Seneca used to work for the Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Epidemiology Center. “We don’t have links with our tribal health departments and/or state health departments in order to share data or real-time incidence, prevalence and any kind of mortality data or information related to this. Our systems are just not in place in order to do good active surveillance.”
Common signs of coronavirus infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, and cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.
Standard recommendations to prevent infection spread include regular hand washing, covering mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, thoroughly cooking meat and eggs. Avoid close contact with anyone showing symptoms of respiratory illness such as coughing and sneezing.