- Details
- By Levi Rickert
UPDATED: The tests on the two individuals came back negative.
SAN CARLOS INDIAN RESERVATION — Health officials on the San Carlos Indian Reservation, near Globe, Ariz., are awaiting the results of tests on two individuals who have experienced COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) symptoms. The two were immediately quarantined.
On Friday, the San Carlos Apache Tribe provided an update.
"We are pleased to report that the tests came back negative for this virus," Victoria Began, CEO for the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation, who emphasized her staff has put in strong protocols to deal with the testing for COVID-19.
Indian Health Service (IHS) released the following statement sent via email in response to an inquiry by Native News Online on Thursday:
“The Indian Health Service continues to work closely with our tribal partners and state and local public health officials to coordinate a comprehensive public health response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. For more information on COVID-19 and how to prevent illness, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
All IHS facilities are capable of testing patients for COVID-19. There is no cost to patients for this testing. Following guidance established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clinicians, including those at the IHS, collect samples with standard specimen collections swabs and access laboratory testing through public health laboratories in their jurisdictions. CDC guidance says clinicians should use their judgment to determine if a patient has signs and symptoms compatible with COVID-19 and whether the patient should be tested. Decisions on which patients receive testing should be based on the local epidemiology of COVID-19, patient risk or exposures, as well as the clinical course of illness. Clinicians are strongly encouraged to test for other causes of respiratory illness, including infections such as influenza.”
This is a developing story and Native News Online will provide an update when more information becomes available.
Editor’s Note: Native News Online remains committed to providing accurate and up-to-date information about the serious threat of the COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) pandemic.
More Stories Like This
Four Indigenous Children Survive Plane Crash in Amazon JungleNot Invisible Act Hearing Gathers Testimony on MMIP Cases
Nevada Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail for Fatal Car Accident that Killed Paiute Filmmaker Myron Dewey
MMIP Red Dress Installation Vandalized in Alaska
NCAI Mid Year Underway on Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Homelands
Native News is free to read.
We hope you enjoyed the story you've just read. For the past dozen years, we’ve covered the most important news stories that are usually overlooked by other media. From the protests at Standing Rock and the rise of the American Indian Movement (AIM), to the ongoing epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous People (MMIP) and the past-due reckoning related to assimilation, cultural genocide and Indian Boarding Schools.
Our news is free for everyone to read, but it is not free to produce. That’s why we’re asking you to make a donation to help support our efforts. Any contribution — big or small — helps. Most readers donate between $10 and $25 to help us cover the costs of salaries, travel and maintaining our digital platforms. If you’re in a position to do so, we ask you to consider making a recurring donation of $12 per month to join the Founder's Circle. All donations help us remain a force for change in Indian Country and tell the stories that are so often ignored, erased or overlooked.
Donate to Native News Online today and support independent Indigenous journalism. Thank you.
