Lummi Nation only providing essential services after employee’s positive coronavirus test
After an employee tested positive for COVID-19 Thursday, March 12, the Lummi Public Health Department has shut down everything except for a few food and health-related services.
On Friday, the Lummi Indian Business Council closed everything, including the council building, except for the Lummi Tribal Health Center, the Lummi Suboxone clinic, the Lummi Early Learning Programs and childcare, and the food bank, according to a post on the Lummi Communications Facebook page.
The food bank was open Friday, March 13, doing curbside delivery services only, the post said.
Friday afternoon, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an executive order that closed all public and private K-12 schools in every district across the state beginning March 17 through April 24. Lummi Nation School is closed until further notice. A review of the closure will happen in two weeks, according to a late Thursday press release from the Lummi Tribal Health Center.
Northwest Indian College is restricting in-person classes until further notice. The Reservation Attorney, Probation Office and Courts are also closed until further notice, the release states.
The closures are an attempt to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the Lummi community, as there may be undiscovered COVID-19 cases, the release states.
On Thursday, a Lummi Indian Business Council employee who lives in King County, but travels to Whatcom for work, tested positive for the disease. The Lummi Public Health Department learned Tuesday, March 10, that the person was in direct contact with another person who tested positive for the coronavirus, a Thursday press release said.
The Lummi public health team took steps to identify close contacts and instructed them to self-quarantine. The health department is prepared to offer testing to those who were exposed and experiencing symptoms, the release states. The Lummi health department is working with King and Whatcom county officials to track any individuals who may be affected, the release states.
In a statement Friday, the Lummi Indian Business Council said it was taking “every precautionary measure” to preserve the health and safety of the Lummi community. The council said it didn’t want people living in fear, and would be transparent about efforts to combat COVID-19.
The release said there were zero confirmed cases of the coronavirus on the Lummi reservation, and that no tribal members have tested positive as of Friday morning.
The decision to shut down everything but essential tribal services was made so that deep-cleaning could take place and to give the public health team time to further investigate the severity of the coronavirus’ impact to the Lummi community, the statement said.
“As a people, we are deeply rooted in our values and our culture. That is why pandemic viruses such as this are so hard for us to deal with; it conflicts with who we are as a people,” the statement said. “We gather, we hug, we visit our elders, we require face to face interaction with each other. Regardless of COVID-19, our elders are of utmost importance to our people and our future. So we have to take every precautionary step to make sure they are safe and healthy.”
The Lummi health department also “strongly” recommended late Wednesday night that community members cancel all travel outside of Whatcom County, even by car, and to self-isolate for up to 14 days upon return if travel is necessary.
The business council declared a public health emergency on March 3 due to COVID-19, according to a business council press release. The state of emergency gives the Lummi Tribal Health Clinic Medical Director the power to quarantine, isolate and treat community members that are designated as a person under investigation as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in accordance with Lummi laws, the release states.
“For our efforts to combat this pandemic, we need all our Lummi and community members to help and be a part of the solution,” the Friday business council statement said. “We do this out of the endless amount of love that we have for our elders. Again, there is no need to panic, but it is vital that we are cautious.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Silver Reef Casino, which is owned and operated by the Lummi Nation, was still open, but the Whatcom County Health Department issued a release late Friday afternoon saying there may have been a public exposure at the casino’s buffet on March 10.
The public exposure was determined during a case investigation of a laboratory-confirmed positive patient. The exposure was determined to have taken place between 11:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on March 10, the Whatcom health department release states.
For people who were at the Silver Reef Casino on March 10 and have concerns about their individual circumstances are encouraged to contact the Whatcom health department at 360-778-6100 or the Lummi Public Health Line at 360-383-8251.
Lummi Indian Business Council representatives could not be reached for comment in time for this story.
