KWSO News for Fri., Jul. 17, 2020

Thursday’s (07/16/20) Covid-19 COMMUNITY UPDATE from the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs reported 3 new cases of Covid-19 on the reservation. That brings the total cases for the Warm Springs Reservation to 110 since testing began. 84 people have recovered. 1491 tests have been done with 66 tests still pending.

Testing inventory includes 199 State test kits (which are taking 24-48 hours for results) and 226 ABBOTT (Rapid) test kits. The Health & Wellness Center has the capacity to do 20-22 of those ABBOTT tests, onsite, per day.

The Warm Springs Health and Wellness Center continues to test patients with symptoms or who have been in close contact with a positive case of Covid-19. There is also random surveillance testing of high-risk community members, health care providers and first responders. Additionally there is broader surveillance testing of Tribal Employees.

COVID-19 has claimed two more lives in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 249 according to the Oregon Health Authority’s report released Thursday. They reported 437 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 13,509. This was another record number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19. The rise is attributed to the spread of COVID-19 from social gatherings and sporadic spread. Worksite outbreaks and long-term care facility outbreaks are also contributing to the increase in cases.

Warm Springs Community Action Team and COIC invite Warm Springs businesses to apply for the Central Oregon COVID-19 Small Business Grants. Dustin Seyler has details:

You can read all of the eligibility requirements on the COIC website.

Warm Springs Sanitation says its trash pick-up schedule includes residential routes only. They are unable to pick up dumpsters at this time. Residents should set their totes out at the road the night before their regular trash pickup days. Remember to help out your neighbor or relative if you know they may need some assistance getting their totes to the road.

The current national response rate for the 2020 census is 62 percent. That rate is slightly higher for the state of Oregon at 64.3 percent. Recent data for Oregon tribes shows a much lower rate for the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs.  As of this week, only about 37 percent of Warm Springs residents have completed their 2020 Census. Historically, Warm Springs has been undercounted and that means less funding is available for things like roads, schools and health services. Every 10 years, the federal government conducts a population count of everyone in the United States. Data from the census provide the basis for distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to communities across the country to support vital programs. They also are used to redraw the boundaries of congressional and state legislative districts and accurately determine the number of congressional seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. Every household should complete a 2020 Census Questionnaire.  You can do the Census online at www.my2020census.gov.  If you haven’t already completed the census for your household, please do it today!

This is the latest from the Warm Springs Fishing and Hunting Hotline: Another summer season fishery has been set.  It is 6 am, Monday, July 20th to 6 pm, Thursday, July 23rd.  The open area is all of Zone 6.  Allowed gear is set and drift gillnets with no mesh restriction.  Allowed sales are salmon, steelhead, shad, yellow perch, bass, walleye, catfish and carp.  Sturgeon may not be sold but may be kept for subsistence use.  River mouth and dam closed areas applicable to gillnets are in effect.  The Spring Creek National Fish Hatchery closed area is not in effect during the summer management period.

The Yakama Nation Tribal Council issued a public safety order this week that requires all people on or off-reservation allotments to wear a face mask. The tribal council says people are required to wear face masks over noses and mouth when in any indoor or outdoor public setting where at least six feet of social distancing cannot be maintained. Yakama Nation Tribal Police will issue civil citations to both individuals and businesses that violate the order, according to the Tribal council.