First case of COVID-19 on Wind River Reservation
The Northern Arapaho Tribe announced the first case of COVID-19 on the Wind River Reservation, Saturday morning.
Wind River Family and Community Health Center, Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Paul J Ebbert released a statement in a post to Facebook.
It read as follows:
“As you may or may not know we have had our first case of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the Wind River Reservation. This case is related to the first case that originated in Lander. As we investigate this case and hear more about the other cases in the county we have good reason to believe that there are many more cases in the community.
There is no cure and no treatment for this virus. It can be deadly especially to elders and to those with other chronic diseases. The only way to protect yourself your family and especially our elders is for people to avoid getting the disease. in addition to frequent and proper hand-washing, social distancing which is staying 6 feet away from other people, not shaking hands, not touching your face you covering your mouth when you cough preferably with a Kleenex that you can throw away or with your elbow the most important thing that everyone can do is to not be around other people as much as possible.
In light of this we are recommending that all tribal members stay at home this weekend unless they have an emergency of some kind. You should not congregate in groups, you should not go to the store unless you absolutely have to, you should not go visit other tribal members who do not live in your home and should avoid gatherings of any kind.
These are tough and scary times. I know that many of these suggestions go against tribal traditions and family structure. However it is very very important that we not be exposed and that we do not expose other tribal members especially our elders. We asked all tribal members to please comply with these recommendations.”
The Northern Arapaho Business Council later confirmed that the patient is an elderly woman in her 70’s from the Ethete area. She was said to have been in stable condition and receiving medical care at an area hospital, as of Saturday.
