COVID-19 Press Release Oct 14, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEOctober 14, 2020COVID19 WEEKLY UPDATE FOR THEFORT HALL RESERVATIONFort Hall- the Tribal Office of Emergency Management (TOEM) officially report the weekly number of COVID-19 cases on the Fort Hall Reservation. The total number of tribal members impacted by COVID-19 is currently at 324 cases (this number includes positives and recovered) since the pandemic started in early April 2020. Of the 324 cases, 30 are currently positive and being monitored, 283 have recovered, 1 is currently hospitalized, and we now have 6 reported deaths due to COVID-19. Yesterday, the Tribes Tribal Youth Education Program (TYEP) was officially closed due to a potential exposure to COVID-19. According to Program Manager, Jessica James, “The Tribal Youth Education tutoring and afterschool program will be closed this week until October 26th, we apologize for the inconvenience and will keep everyone updated on providing tutoring virtually, please check our official Facebook page for updates.” The TYEP house will be deep cleaned and does not affect other departments. The Tribes continue to stress to please wear your face mask in all public settings, both indoors and outdoors. This definitely includes family gatherings birthday parties, cookouts, funerals. If you cannot postpone them, consider holding them outside where there are better air flow and people can stay farther apart and limit outside guests into your home. For Tribal employees, including the Casino Hotel, if you are scheduled to have COVID-19 test, DO NOT return to work. Please quarantine yourself from work and family until you get your test results back and are cleared to return to work from the health official. This safeguards others from being exposed. We stress to everyone– Stay at home if you’re sick, wash your hands, social distance by staying 6 feet apart. Both I.H.S and HRSA offer free testing on the Reservation. If you think you have been exposed or have symptoms, call the IHS hotline at 208-238-5494 (Monday-Friday 8-5PM). If you are contacted by a ‘Contact Tracer’, the individual will be instructed to isolate and schedule a testing immediately. COVID symptoms include a fever (temperature 100.4 or higher), cough, shortness of breath, headache, muscle and body aches, sore throat, fatigue/extreme tiredness, GI symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea), and loss of taste and smell. Each of our Tribal health centers, including I.H.S, Tribal Health and HRSA have tribal contact tracers actively monitoring positive individuals. For any health concerns, please call Fort Hall Indian Health Service (I.H.S) at (208) 238-5494 (Monday-Friday, 8-5PM) or Community Health Center (HRSA) 208-478-3987. For tribal resources check out the Tribes COVID19 website at www.sbtribes.com. ###FH COVID chart: updated as of October 13, 2020 at 1:09PM