This week on the Minnesota Native News Health Report, the number of Covid- 19 cases in Minnesota now tops 100 thousand.
The virus is outpacing the state’s ability to track – let alone control it.
But public health officials are determined to do what they can. One of those mostly rural areas is Beltrami County. That’s where most of Red Lake Nation is. Reporter Laurie Stern talked with Tribal Secretary Sam Strong about how Covid 19’s spread is affecting his community.
Transcript
Marie:
Headlines:
MARIE: This week on the Minnesota Native News Health Report, the number of Covid- 19 cases in Minnesota now tops 100 thousand.
The virus is outpacing the state’s ability to track - let alone control it.
But public health officials are determined to do what they can.
Governor Walz extended the peacetime emergency 30 more days.
The fifth special session of the legislature starts Monday.
This is Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm.
Early in the pandemic this might have seemed like it was a large urban phenomenon but around the country we’ve seen the fastest growing case rates being in rural areas.
One of those mostly rural areas is Beltrami County. That’s where most of Red Lake Nation is. Reporter Laurie Stern talked with Tribal Secretary Sam Strong about how Covid 19’s spread is affecting his community.
The Red Lake Nation reports 64 TOTAL cases of Covid-19 with one case active as of Thursday October 8. Meanwhile on the same day, the number of active cases in Beltrami County was over 100. The number spiked after President Trump came to Bemidji the third week of September.
Because of that Trump rally, we're being faced with a huge outbreak in our neighboring community, and that's where our people shop, a lot of our people go to school and, and work in Bemidji. And so it's incredibly troubling that, you know, that political rally put us all in danger. And so I'm very fearful of it.
Secretary Strong says many who came to Bemidji were not following public health guidelines, not wearing masks, not social distancing.
And they left, but they left us with the disease as well.
Secretary Strong says Red Lake Nation has been proactive from the very beginning of the pandemic. Widespread community testing, screening before employees go to work, and robust contact tracing.
We have a mask mandate here in Red Lake, we had one prior to the state. But not only a mask mandate, we've also provided masks to our people as well. And if you ever come to Red Lake, you'll see that we're pretty good at it. You know, we adhere to the master mandate, because we care about our community, and we want to see as little impact as possible.
And the tribe provides for people who do get sick.
When we have had cases, we have isolation facilities, we have resources to help those individuals isolate at home as well.
Secretary Strong says like others concerned about spreading the virus, he has stayed close to home since March, and he always wears a mask. It frustrates him that simple sacrfices have proven hard for some people to make.
it's just so silly to me that we're pushing away masks. Everyone wants the economy to reopen and our lives to be normal. I'm in the same boat. And I think all we got to do is wear a mask? How hard is that? Why does it have to become politicized? Why do we have to endanger our fellow human beings?
(a little music)
MARIE: Now it’s time to hear from Jennifer Cortes, our Leech Lake/North Minneapolis youth correspondent. She’s been busy, as you’ll hear.