KWSO News for Thu., Jun. 18, 2020

The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Covid-19 update yesterday afternoon reported 4 more positive cases of COVID-19 on the reservation for a total number of positive test results of 54.  42 people have recovered.  There have been 830 tests conducted with 747 negative test results, 26 tests pending results, and 3 invalid tests that were redone.  There have been 4 people in the hospital with 2 discharged.

COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 183.  The Oregon Health Authority reported early yesterday that there were 122 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 bringing the state total to 6,218.

Indian Head Casino will reopen at 10am this morning following CDC guidelines including an occupancy limit of 250 total guests.  New hours will be 10am – 2am daily.  All guests will need to enter the casino thru the doors on the East side of the building, which is the entrance to Cottonwood Restaurant. Face masks will be required for all guests and employees, as well as a touchless temperature check before entering the building.  At least initially, the entire property at Indian Head Casino will be non-smoking. Plexiglas shields and social distancing markers have been installed in high-traffic areas such as the Players Club, cashier booths and the checkout counter at the Tule Grill. In addition to new cleaning procedures, the casino will provide multiple hand-sanitizing stations on the casino floor.   The slot machines will be open and ready for play however table games, will open on a later date. All restaurants at Indian Head Casino will be open for take-out and the Cottonwood Restaurant will offer curbside delivery.  Indian Head Casino voluntarily closed on March 18^th in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to stay closed for nearly three months.

COVID-19 testing will take place tomorrow at Celilo Village from 10am – 4pm.  Transportation is available by calling 541-308-8337.  There will also be information about Covd-19 Emergency Support for folks who live in and around Celilo,

An Energy Bill Assistance Program is now being offered by Warm Springs Children’s Protective Services.  The can help with electric bills up to $300.  To qualify you must have a child living in your home (0-18 years old) and you must be low income and or currently be receiving TANF (Food Stamps).  Please submit your original and most recent electric bill to Tara Moody at the CPS Office.  Call 541-553-3209 or email tara.moody@wstribes.org.  This is a first come – first served grant fund opportunity until funds are depleted.  Applications will be accepted until June 30, 2020.

Contact tracing is a crucial part of getting a handle on the coronavirus. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is warning people to watch out for scammers who are posing as contact tracersContact tracers usually work with local government agencies to call people who may have come in contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.  Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum says it’s an important tool to identify other people who may have been infected, but scammers are taking advantage of it through text messages and email.   She says “You should assume if you get a text or an email out of the blue with a link assume that it is not a legitimate contact tracer and get in touch with your public health authority.”   Rosenblum says real contact tracers usually begin the relationship with a personal phone call. She recently signed onto a letter with several other attorneys general calling on Google and Apple to ensure that their free contact tracing mobile apps are controlled only by public health agencies — and not by scammers.

The Warm Springs Community Action Team is partnering with Sisters Seed to Table to distribute 30 vegetable kits a week for 20 weeks starting today. The vegetables that will be available in the bags this week are salad greens, carrots and scallions. They will be available for pick up outside the WSCAT office starting at 11am. This project is part of an ongoing goal to provide more fresh produce options to the community, encourage food sovereignty and support Tribal agriculture development.

The Warm Springs Holistic Health Center, located on campus next to the courthouse, is offering limited physical therapy and acupuncture services having reopened this week.  Acupuncturist Eric Mallory says “acupuncture has been shown through controlled trials to be effective for a number of symptoms and conditions.  Some of those published by the World Health Organization include:  low back pain, neck pain, knee pain, arthritis of the shoulder, rheumatoid arthritis, tennis elbow, headache, facial pain, TMJ, sciatica and some types of menstrual pain.  Warm Springs Holistic Health is open 8am to 5pm Monday thru Friday.  Appointments are required.  You can call 541-777-2663 to learn more.