Press Release from the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
For immediate release: March 27, 2020
Contacts:
Carrie Sampson-Samuels, Public Information Officer – Public Health, (541) 240-8728
Jiselle Halfmoon, Public Information Officer – Tribal Governance, (541) 969-4801
CTUIR Command Incident Command Status Update
MISSION, Ore. – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Incident Command Team (ICT) is working on several plans to ensure the safety of the entire community. The ICT continues to monitor and manage the emerging situation concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a very serious situation with Tribal, Local, National and International implications.
The ICT will share information on a frequent and regular basis as quickly as decisions are made. They have reviewed and considered all recommendations provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Oregon Health Authority (OHA) as they become available, however, the CTUIR has the authority to choose how the guidance is used in our community.
As of 8:00am today, COVID-19 has claimed one more life in Oregon, raising the state’s death total to twelve.
Additionally, Oregon now has a total of 414 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, after the Oregon Health Authority announced 98 new cases of the novel coronavirus.
OHA is reporting new cases in the following counties: Clackamas (10), Columbia (1), Deschutes (3), Douglas (1), Jackson (2), Klamath (1), Lane (2), Linn (2), Marion (26), Morrow (1), Multnomah (22), Polk (4), Umatilla (1), Wasco (1), Washington (18) and Yamhill (4).
The one positive case in Umatilla County (above) is the same case that was included in the CTUIR Incident Command Status Update on Wednesday, March 25, 2020 as reported by the Umatilla County Health Department. To date, there have been four reported cases in Umatilla County, two of those occurred this week. There have been no cases reported on the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
It is expected that the virus is more widespread in the community than the case counts indicate. As such, as testing becomes more widely available, the number of positive cases in Oregon will continue to rise.
Current CTUIR guidelines/updates as of March 27, 2020 at 5:00pm are as follows:
- All CTUIR entities will continue to provide only critical services for the week of March 30 to April 5, 2020.
- Effective Sunday, March 29, 2020, Hamley Steakhouse and Saloon will be closed until further notice.
- Beware of on-line and phone donation scams: A GoFundMe site was attempting to collect money for a tribally owned restaurant and its workers. There are fraudulent acts being perpetrated during this crisis; please be on the lookout.
- Disease modeling projections released by the OHA Joint Incident Command yesterday indicate that we must continue to maintain aggressive measures to isolate ourselves from each other so we can potentially lessen infections and any burdens on hospitals in our region and across the state. The models forecast the following outcomes for 3 different scenarios (AAC – non ICU beds / ICU – Intensive Care Unit beds):
- Return to business as usual: If Oregon lifted all the social distancing measures state leaders have instituted in recent weeks, there will be an estimated 15,000 cumulative infections by May 8th (within a range of 5,900-26,000). Approximately 1,100 people would need inpatient beds (850 AAC/250 ICU)
- Maintain bans on large gatherings and indefinite school closures: There would be an estimated 6,100 cumulative infections by May 8th (within a range of 2,000-12,000) and 340 people will need inpatient beds (260 AAC/80 ICU)
- Maintain aggressive interventions put into place on Monday, March 23rd (i.e., Stay Home, Save Lives) with high public adherence: There will be an estimated 1,000 cumulative infections by May 8th (within a range of 700-3,800). Under this scenario, hospitals would have to boost capacity by a smaller number of beds.
- The CTUIR began behavior change on March 2, 2020 and in general has seen community-wide compliance with our aggressive plan to stop the spread. We all must make sacrifices in our efforts to keep ourselves safe by limiting contact with each other, our friends and our families.
The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is made up of the Cayuse, Umatilla, and Walla Walla Tribes, formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 statute 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the treaty rights guaranteed under federal statute.
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