Strides Being Made In COVID Control
A health official for the Fort Peck Indian Reservation feels the area is on the right path in combating COVID-19 if individuals keep doing their part in fighting the virus.
“Keep using all your safety precautions, wear masks and social distance,” Kaci Wallette stressed. “Stay home those whole 14 days.”
Wallette is the vice chair of the tribes’ health and human services division and on the tribal health board. She is also a registered nurse.
Improvements still need to be made, of course. A recent review by the Centers of Disease Control commended the positive collaborative effort conducted with the tribes, Indian Health Services, Roosevelt County and the Montana State National Guard. CDC urged for more consistent testing to take place.
Wallette notes a strong step forward is tentatively scheduled to take place later in November when its is planned that the Montana National Guard will conduct 5,000 tests in Wolf Point and Poplar.
The group is also planning to increase its education efforts by providing additional information in newspapers, social media and on bulletin boards.
The tribes are in the process of hiring a person who will notify people who test negative. “We only have six contact tracers in Roosevelt County. They’re swamped,” Wallette said. “We want to shorten the time of when people are notified.”
Since March, 2,567 individuals have been tested and there have been 629 positives with 28 deaths on the reservation.
“Right now, about 33 percent of the tests are positive. That’s way high,” Wallette said.
As of Monday, Nov. 9, there were 46 active cases on the Reservation including 26 in Wolf Point and 15 in Poplar.
She reminds the public that the tribes provide food boxes to members when they are quarantined or have family members who are quarantined. For more information, call 525-5020.
A benefit received is the help from John Hopkins University to assist with data gathering. “They offered assistance and we’ve gladly accepted,” Wallette said.
She also announces that area schools will soon have quicker testing where they will be able to tell in 15 minutes whether a student, who is displaying signs and symptoms, has tested positive.
“It will be a nice new avenue for the schools,” Wallette said.
