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2021-04-19
News Article: Navajo Nation reports no COVID-19 deaths for 8th day
By Associated Press, 19 April 2021 WINDOW ROCK (AP) — The Navajo Nation is finding no new COVID-19 related deaths for an eighth consecutive day. The tribe on Sunday afternoon reported seven new virus cases but no additional deaths on the vast reservation. The latest numbers bring the Navajo Nation's pandemic case total to 30,366 with the death toll remaining at 1,262. Tribal officials said 16,477 people have recovered from COVID-19 thus far. The tribe had been easing into reopening but that slowed somewhat after coronavirus variants were confirmed on the reservation, which stretches into New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Tribal officials urged residents to stay vigilant. Navajo President Jonathan Nez said the tribe recently had a cluster of COVID-19 cases as a result of a family gathering where people were not wearing masks. Tribal public health orders mandate that masks be worn on the reservation and a daily curfew is in effect. Restaurants cannot have dine-in services. Navajo Nation roads also are closed to visitors and tourists, which doesn’t affect travel on state highways that run through the reservation. Meanwhile, health care facilities across the reservation continue to offer the vaccine by appointment or at drive-thru events. -
2021-04-14
News Article: Navajo Nation reports no COVID-19 deaths for 3rd day in row
Despite very grim months through the last year's COVID-19 pandemic in the Navajo Nation, the Associated Press reported continuing indications of success for the Navajo people and their rural communities: WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) — The Navajo Nation on Tuesday reported two new confirmed COVID-19 cases, but no additional deaths for the third consecutive day. The latest numbers brought the pandemic totals on the tribe’s reservation to 30,269 cases and 1,262 known deaths. Tribal officials had ordered a lockdown last weekend over fears that a new variant could drive another deadly surge. The Stay-At-Home order required all Navajo Nation residents to refrain from unnecessary travel to help limit the spread of the virus, including a new and more contagious strain. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez recently announced the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 B.1.429 variant on the reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. -
2021-03-05
News Article: Gila County's COVID-19 efforts lead more urban counties
"By Christopher Brito, March 5, 2021, CBSnews.com While a majority of states and cities are still vaccinating higher priority groups of people, one county in Arizona is now allowing any resident over the age of 18 to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Gila County, which is located east of Phoenix, entered Phase 2 of their vaccine prioritization late last month, opening up eligibility to the general population. Part of the the decision to open vaccine eligibility is because Gila County has one of the lowest percentages of COVID-19 vaccine doses used in Arizona. Michael O'Driscoll, director of Public Health and Emergency Management for the county, told CBS affiliate KPHO-TV that they received permission from the state last week to offer the vaccine in a drive-thru clinic last weekend. "Prior to that, we were struggling to find enough people to make appointments to that, so the state gave me permission to offer it to any resident 18 and older," he said. About 56,000 people reside in the county. According to the Arizona's Department of Health Services, more than 13,000 people – or almost one fourth of residents – have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. "We did a survey before to get a sense of how many people in Gila County would consider getting the vaccine, and our survey came back about 50-60% of the residents would choose to get the vaccine if available," O'Driscoll said. Based on the data, over 5,600 people under the age of 65 have received the vaccine, including 73 people under the age of 20. One of the younger recipients, 18-year-old Jacob Jost, told KPHO-TV that he was "excited" to get the shot. "I have a little nephew, a little baby, so having the vaccine puts a peace of mind for that," Jost said. First published on March 5, 2021 / 12:13 PM © 2021 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Christopher Brito is a social media producer and trending writer for CBS News, focusing on sports and stories that involve issues of race and culture. -
2021-03-22
Apache County (AZ) Library COVID-19 Guidelines after March 22, 2021
This copyright-free image of a public-facing government webpage displays the COVID-19 protocols in place at Apache County (AZ) library locations after Governor Doug Ducey ordered local governments to phase out public health mandates on March 22, 2021. Unlike urban areas within the state, rural Apache County in northeastern Arizona no longer required mask use inside private or government (public) buildings and facilities. -
2021-04-10
Muscogee (Creek) Nation provides mobile COVID-19 vaccine units to help rural Oklahomans get shot
The Muscogee Creek Nation began a campaign in Oklahoma to provide COVID-19 vaccines to rural residents. The mobile vehicles feature refrigeration units and enough room for three nurses to work on administering the vaccine, completing the paperwork, and entering the data to the online system. "I'm not aware of anyone else taking vaccine into communities via a mobile unit so we are really excited to be able to expand this service into our rural communities and we hope to increase vaccination rates because of it," said Shoneen Alexander-Ross, Chief Performance Officer with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Department of Health. -
2021-04-01
The ‘slow-motion’ genocide’ of the Chinook Indian Nation
The pandemic has exacerbated the Chinook’s lack of the kind of social safety net recognized tribes possess. While the COVID-19 mortality rate of Indigenous people is almost 2.5 times that of white people, unrecognized tribes have not received any of the $8 billion in government aid passed by Congress last spring. Nor have they received priority for tests or vaccines. Instead, they have to rely on neighboring tribes like the Grand Ronde and the Shoalwater Bay Tribe to vaccinate their elder knowledge-keepers. Chinook tribal members sometimes refer to the lack of recognition as slow-motion genocide. “Explain how it’s not genocide,” Johnson said to me. “Someone explain to me how it’s not.” -
2020
Cultural Survival: disaggregation of data of, for, and by Indigenous Peoples
"Due to the need to present information disaggregated by Indigenous Peoples, Cultural Survival is producing this map to collect and disseminate information to show the situations Indigenous communities are facing as a result of COVID-19. As the number of cases increase daily, and the lack of access to testing in rural areas, the data presented here will evolve over time. Empty areas do not imply that there are no cases of COVID-19 or human right violations. This is a continuous and not exhaustive effort and we invite Indigenous Peoples and their communities to contribute. [...] Our COVID-19 response features a holistic, multi-layered approach including curating a global monitoring system for COVID-19 for Indigenous communities using Google maps technology to document COVID-19 cases and related human rights violations." -
2021-04-04
News Article: How a local response to COVID-19 helped slow deaths on the White Mountain Apache nation
By Amanda Morris of the Arizona Republic: When someone on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation receives a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19, health care workers from the Whiteriver Indian Hospital jump into action. They personally visit the individual's home to test other household members, perform health evaluations on everyone there and trace any other potential contacts at risk for COVID-19 exposure. Health care workers in the community say that could be one reason why, even though the rate of confirmed COVID-19 cases among White Mountain Apache tribal members is nearly triple the state's rate, the death rate is much lower and continues to fall. Over 90% of COVID-19 cases in the White Mountain community are investigated within 24 hours of testing, according to Ryan Close, the director of the Department of Preventative Medicine at the Whiteriver hospital, which is the only hospital on the 1.67 million-acre reservation. "I feel like what we did made a huge difference," Close said. "We evaluated and admitted people aggressively and early. The tribe deserves an incredible amount of credit for mobilizing staff ... to make this response possible, because at some point it would have been very difficult to maintain without their considerable help." The quick response may have also helped the tribe turn the tide against rapid community spread of the virus, which scientists say could have been fueled by a single variant found only in the White Mountain tribal communities. The variant carried a mutation in the spike protein, which scientist theorize could have made it spread more rapidly than other strains of the virus. The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases among White Mountain Apache tribal members accounts for 24% to 28% of their population, according to Close, but the cumulative death rate among known cases is only 1.2%. By comparison, the statewide rate of infection was 11.5% with a 2% death rate among known cases. And over the winter, Close said the rate for the tribe dropped even lower, to about 0.5%. In a community with a high number of individuals with underlying health conditions, the low death rate and work of the tribe has been "remarkable," said David Engelthaler, director of the Translational Genomics Research Institute's infectious disease division in Flagstaff. The death rate also stands out as unusually low when compared with death rates in other Indigenous communities. Indigenous populations have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic. CDC data shows that Indigenous people are 3.5 more likely to be diagnosed with COVID-19 and almost twice as likely to die from COVID-19 than white people. Close credits a proactive strategy to combat COVID-19 that involved rapid contact tracing, in-person health evaluations and frequent outreach to high-risk COVID-19-positive individuals as well as early treatment with monoclonal antibodies and other antiviral therapies. Volunteers and health workers from the White Mountain Apache community were on the Whiteriver hospital's contact tracing team and high-risk COVID-19 outreach team, which Close said helped the team connect better with the people and work faster. One essential part of the team are the tribe's community health representatives, or CHRs, who are members of the community that serve as a cultural bridge between patients and medical establishments. JT Nashio, director of the Community Health Representatives for the tribe, said the "visceral connection" that CHRs have to the community helps them bring cultural awareness to the way questions are asked for contact tracing, which makes the process more effective and allows officials to better distribute information. "On top of that, quite simply, they know how to get around. It’s a big reservation and not all homes are easy to find," Nashio said. "But when you’ve lived here your whole life, you know where to find people. That became invaluable during the tracing and testing push during case surges." Virus mutation may have made it more transmissible When COVID-19 hit the White Mountain Apache nation, it spread rapidly. The community's first documented case was on April 1, 2020, from someone who had likely recently visited the Phoenix area, unknowingly caught COVID-19 and returned, according to Engelthaler. Within the first few weeks, Close said the community experienced a handful of deaths. "We soon had incidence rates that were skyrocketing. Case counts were going up very, very quickly," Close said. It's unclear why the disease spread so rapidly in the community, but the initial strain of COVID-19 that hit the community carried a mutation that Engelthaler believes could have made it more transmissible. "They were seeing the virus just rip through and have an 80 to 90 to 100 percent attack rate," he said. TGen partnered with the tribe and the U.S. Indian Health Services early on to provide tests to diagnose a case of COVID-19 and provide genetic analysis of the virus from each case. It showed one strain of the virus circulating in the tribal community that wasn't present anywhere else in the state. "This virus moved much faster than anything else we were seeing in Arizona at the time," Engelthaler said. "So we actually believe that we had one of these variant strains in Arizona that was causing very large numbers of cases, but it was secluded and maintained really only in that tribal population." The mutation, called the H245Y mutation, occurred in the spike of the virus, which Englethaler said is a "very sensitive" part of the virus where mutations can have a significant impact. Because of the low death rate, Engelthaler said TGen researchers would like to investigate the mutated strain of coronavirus seen among tribal members to see if it is also associated with a lower fatality rate. He acknowledged that other strains of the virus have since entered the community and that the actions of health care workers in the community and at the Whiteriver hospital is also responsible for the lower death rates. 'The earlier you treat an illness, the better' Close's biggest concern was that an outbreak would cause a "tsunami" of sick COVID-19 patients that would run the risk of overwhelming the Whiteriver hospital, which does not have an intensive care unit. Any patients that require intensive care need to be transported to other hospitals in the state. "We're a small hospital, we cannot take a wave of all very acute patients because there aren't enough ventilators in the hospital," Close said. "There aren't enough helicopters in the state to transport people out from our facility to a higher level of care." Within the first few weeks, Close said the community experienced a handful of deaths, and patients who had the poorest outcomes were the ones who self-presented at the hospital — often meaning they waited until they felt sick enough to go to the hospital. "People don't always bring themselves in early enough," Close said. "The earlier you treat an illness, the better." In response to this phenomenon, the hospital started a high-risk outreach program the third week of April. Health care workers regularly visited the homes of anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 and was at high risk for a poor outcome. Close recalls multiple days when he evaluated patients and found their oxygen levels dangerously low, even though they felt fine. It's a condition associated with COVID-19 known as "silent hypoxia," or "happy hypoxia." "They had no sense that they were even ill. They went on to get pretty sick in the hospital, but they survived and you can't help but think to yourself, 'Yeah, that's a life saved,'" Close said. "That person, if they had stayed home another day or another two days would not have done as well. They would have ended up on a ventilator or something." The Arizona Republic previously reported that the effects of the high-risk outreach program and contact tracing led to a fatality rate among tribal members of 1.6% last June, which was less than the state's rate of 2.5% and country's at 2.7% at the time. But the effect of the outreach program became even more pronounced over the winter, as the tribe and health workers gained access to monoclonal antibody treatments, according to Close. He said the high-risk outreach team started referring patients for antibody treatment in December as part of their protocol after the therapy received emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Hospital staff at the Whiteriver hospital then administered the antibody treatment. "We give that to people who are asymptomatic or mildly ill to prevent hospitalization," Close said. "The evidence currently suggests that reduces the risk that they're going to get sicker and get hospitalized and reduces the risk that they're going to die." Though there's no data proving the antibody treatments made a difference, Close said that after health care workers started using them, the community's COVID-19 death rate fell to 0.5%. Hospital workers also gave antiviral therapies, such as remdesivir, to patients early and often. "We probably overtreated some people," he said. "But the good news is it definitely led to significant reductions in mortality." Lessons for the future Close believes the different programs were so successful because health care workers were often able to test, trace, diagnose and treat individuals all in the same day — a feat he said was only possible because of how closely integrated hospital workers and community health workers were. "There were no barriers in communication between the public health arm of our response and the clinical care arm of our response," Close said. "It's really a case for an integrated health care system." As the tribe emerges from the pandemic and tribal members get vaccinated against the virus, Close said the hospital may start exploring other health conditions where it can use the high-risk outreach team, which is already trained and experienced in clinical evaluations. "The goal is to take what we've learned from COVID and now apply it to things that are not COVID-related," Close said. Another valuable lesson Close hopes to carry forward is how much of a difference visiting residents in their homes can make and how important building trusting relationships with the community is. Nashio said going door to door to trace and monitor COVID-19 cases was a natural step for CHRs, who had already gone door to door in the past for other community health campaigns. "We know firsthand how difficult it can be to not only connect with patients over the phone but communicate effectively over the phone," Nashio said. "When the community sees their CHRs coming to their door, it helps decrease the stigma of the disease." In addition to performing checkup evaluations and providing information, Nashio said CHRs can also provide food, medical supplies, cleaning supplies or services like grocery shopping and running basic errands. Not every tribal member has reliable internet or phone service, nor access to transportation, so Close said going door to door can be a good way to reach, and help, everyone. "Meeting patients where they are is invaluable," Close said. Amanda Morris covers all things bioscience, which includes health care, technology, new research and the environment. Send her tips, story ideas, or dog memes at amorris@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @amandamomorris for the latest bioscience updates. Independent coverage of bioscience in Arizona is supported by a grant from the Flinn Foundation. -
2021-03-25
News Article: Graham County (AZ) now with less than 150 active documented COVID-19 cases
"By Jon Johnson, jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com SAFFORD – Graham County has had very few new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the past month, lowering its numbers to just 147 active cases as of Thursday. According to the Graham County Department of Health and Human Services, Graham County has had a total of 5,355 confirmed cases for the course of the pandemic, with 5,132 listed as being recovered, 147 active, and 76 deaths in more than a year. No new cases were recorded Thursday, and, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services COVID-19 school dashboard, Graham County had just a 1 percent positivity rate as of the week of March 14. That is good for a tie with Apache County for the second-lowest percent positivity rate out of Arizona’s 15 counties. Only Greenlee County, which registered a zero percent positivity rate from Feb. 27 – March 14, had lower. With the lower cases statewide and vaccine rollout, Governor Doug Ducey issued an Executive Order on Thursday, rolling back several COVID-19 mitigation measures involving businesses and gatherings. This comes as other states roll back their COVID-19 mitigation measures as well. The rollout of the various COVID-19 vaccines has picked up steam in the last month, with the state opening up the vaccine to anyone 16 years old or older for the Pfizer vaccine. Anyone 18 years old or older can be administered the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. The San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation is holding a free, drive-through vaccine clinic on Saturday, March 27 at the San Carlos High School. No appointment is necessary. The clinic will be administering both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Graham County and Greenlee County are also providing vaccination sites for those 18 and older, and provide the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines. Greenlee County: According to the Greenlee County Health Department, the county currently has just nine active cases of COVID-19. For the course of the pandemic, Greenlee County has had 568 confirmed positive cases (by far the lowest out of any of Arizona’s 15 counties), with 549 recovered cases, nine active, and 10 deaths." -
2021-03-30
News Article: Greenlee County (AZ) down to just 2 active COVID-19 cases
"By Jon Johnson, jonjohnsonnews@gmail.com GREENLEE COUNTY – The Greenlee County Health Department reported Monday that the county had just two confirmed active cases of COVID-19. Greenlee County has tested more than 5,000 people for the course of the pandemic and has had a total of 568 cases, with 556 recovered and 10 deaths. The county offers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to all residents 18-years-old or older, and on Thursday (01-April-2021) Gila Health Resources will have a vaccine clinic for the one-shot Johnson and Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. Click here to learn more or to register. According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, 37.5 percent of Greenlee County’s residents have been vaccinated for COVID-19. That is the highest percentage out of Arizona’s 15 counties. Conversely, Graham County is listed as having just 18.1 percent of its population vaccinated, which is the third-worst out of Arizona’s counties behind Maricopa County at 17.5 percent and Apache County at 10.7 percent. Graham County: The Graham County Department of Health and Human Services reported three new confirmed positive tests for COVID-19 on Tuesday. While Graham County has had 5,364 total confirmed cases of COVID-19, as of Tuesday the county had just 138 confirmed active cases. Out of all its confirmed cases, 5,150 are listed as being recovered, and 76 have died. Graham County is also offering both the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to all residents 18-years-old or older. Click here for more information." -
2021-04-05
Greenlee County (AZ) Health Department's Daily COVID-19 Updates through April 5, 2021
The Greenlee County Health Department uses its Facebook page to disseminate daily information related to the COVID-19 pandemic to its residents. The daily COVID-19 statistics are displayed as an image on the daily Facebook post, which allows examination of the department's content and messaging before and after the pandemic. Governor Doug Ducey declared a state of emergency in Arizona on March 11, 2020, which seems inconsistent with GCHD's daily posts from that period. Language on the GCHD posts consistently advised residents to stay home if they felt ill, rather than being consistent with Governor Ducey's voluntary Stay Home orders. For example, the March 30, 2021, press release to update a new active COVID-19 infection in Greenlee County reads as follows: "For Immediate Release, Tuesday, March 30, 2021, Greenlee County, Arizona. Public Information Contact: Steve Rutherford (928) 865-2601 NEW RELEASE - COVID-19 Positive Test in Greenlee County The Greenlee County Health Department is investigating one (1) new confirmed case of COVID-19. The case will put our current total at five hundred and sixty-nine (569) confirmed Greenlee County COVID-19 cases... We would like to remind the community to use masks appropriately when outside of the home, practice social distancing, wash your hands frequently, and do not go into the public when you are feeling sick, unless you are seeking medical attention." These updates demonstrate a significant dichotomy between the rural and urban experiences during this pandemic. -
2021-01-15
My Grandma Made Front Page Again
My grandma Pauline Bell made the front page of our local paper again. This time, she was one of the first in the area to receive the vaccine. We were all so happy for her and what this might mean for all of us who miss her. -
2021-03-27
Is This Patriotic Enough?
Lee Wong, chairman of the West Chester, Ohio, Township Board of Trustees, condemned anti-Asian violence during an impassioned speech that has now gone viral. -
2020-07-20
G̱aandlee Guu Jaalang take precautionary measures to ensure safety from COVID 19
G̱aandlee Guu Jaalang take precautionary measures to ensure safety from COVID 19. -
2020-07-10
Queen Charlotte Lodge Endangering Indigenous Peoples of Haida Gwaii
The Haida are at risk for Covid-19 exposure by Queen Charlotte Lodge and West Coast Fishing Club, both of which reopened without Haida consent. -
2020-07-10
Haida Matriarchs Occupy Ancient Villages to Protect Against Covid-19
Eight to 95 percent of the Haida people were wiped out by the smallpox epidemic purposely introduced to Haida Gwaii to destroy our people. We plan to survive this pandemic at all cost. -
2021-03-29
Bisbee (AZ) Mayor Ken Budge Lifts Mask Mandate
This March 29, 2021, episode of The Daily Chirp podcast from the Douglas Herald discusses Bisbee Mayor Ken Budge's recent retraction of mask mandates in that community -
2020-05-28
Covid-19 highlights lack of connectivity in first nations communities
This article speak about the ‘digital divide’ in Canada; a reality in Canada where rural and First Nations communities don’t have access to the sufficient technology or infrastructure to use online platforms, or just the internet in general. This particular article tackles how the pandemic has exacerbated this divide, and has shown the need to give these communities access to high-speed internet. These communities often are left to ask private enterprises to provide these services, and these corporations which are profit oriented as all telecommunications giants often ignores these calls, as they would not see a financial return. Essentially, profits are being placed over people, which in turn breaks apart the social solidarity of these communities and complicates communication between First Nations communities and the Canadian state, as well as community organization at large. However, this article states that the government will be actively attempting to incentivize these private corporations to build telecommunications infrastructure as a means to abide by the UN’s declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples. While progress is being made, this article nevertheless identifies the material and logistical disparities between First Nations communities throughout the nation; which have been highlighted by the pandemic. -
2021-03-11
Cynthia Jensen Oral History, 03/11/2021
Cynthia Jensen is an executive secretary for a Superintendent of Schools office in a rural town in California. In this oral history, she discusses how the pandemic has affected her workplace, coworkers, family, and community, explaining her disappointment with the official response to the pandemic. She also touches on her experience getting the vaccine, and how she feels about the future now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Cynthia also discusses her concerns from the start of the pandemic, and how those concerns have shifted or grown throughout the past year. She hopes that moving forward, there will be better preparation for outbreaks such as this, and a stronger unified response from the general public. Looking to the next year, she predicts that it will take time for the schools to recover and find ways to best support students and staff. -
2021-03-18
Frontline farmers now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
Agricultural workers in Virginia are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Although farm production hasn't dropped significantly due to COVID-19, many farmers are apart of high-risk categories. Giving farmers access to the vaccine is believed to ensure that the food supply is maintained. -
02/23/2021
Bonnie Brainard Oral History, 2021/02/23
I recorded a mini oral history with my former professor Dr. Beverly Van Note. -
2020-10
How Tribal Communities Have Dealt with the Pandemic
A cursory look into A Journal of the Plague Year reveals that the pandemic is nondiscriminatory, all of are affected. Yet, the reality is that Covid-19 is having more impact on certain populations in American communities. Arizona State University's Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict partnered with the Henry Luce Foundation to provide rapid relief funding to marginalized communities in the southwest. As part of the rapid relief program, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict is collaborating with A Journal of the Plague Year and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to raise awareness about the marginalized communities that were assisted via this grant. By joining this "Southwest Stories" project, we at the Podcast of the Plague Year were granted the opportunity to spotlight one Native American community in Arizona- the White Mountain Apache Tribe. -
02/11/2021
Tracey Kole Oral History, 2021/02/11
I recorded a mini oral history with my mom about silver linings. -
02/07/2021
Jo Ann Richey Oral History, 2021/02/07
This is an interview with Jo Ann Richey about her COVID-19 vaccination experience in January of 2021. She talks about how pandemic restrictions have affected her work and social life. She also speaks about where and how her vaccine was conducted. She includes personal insight into how she hopes the vaccines may change her life and society as whole in the future. Contributed by Clinton P. Roberts, HSE, for Arizona State University for the #RuralVoices and #VaccineStories collections -
2021-01-27
Adventist Health Sonora Cuts Short Its Mass Coronavirus Vaccination Clinics
This article addresses the issues my hometown is having with their vaccination process. While I do know several individuals who were able to receive the vaccine before the clinics were cut short, this is disappointing to those who had not yet received the vaccine. My hometown is a small community with many older residents, so it is important for the health and well-being of those in the area that the vaccination process happens as quickly and as cleanly as possible. Hopefully the new approach to this rollout is successful, and those eligible will receive the vaccine. -
2021-01-28
State expands access to COVID-19 vaccinations in rural areas
In Tennessee, the state has announced new partnerships with rural pharmacies to more effectively reach the elderly outside of urban areas. This particular article focuses on East Tennessee and the rural counties surrounding the Knoxville metropolitan area. This is great news to those who do not live in cities as Tennessee is a mostly rural state. For some elderly people, they would potentially have to drive two hours to get to the city to get a vaccine. However, because of this new partnership, it will make it far easier for those in rural areas to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. -
2020-01-28
IMMY Labs offers POD to help distribute Oklahoma vaccinations
IMMY Labs is a local company in my area that had previously offered free COVID testing to Oklahomans. Starting last week IMMY Labs created a POD at the Embassy Suites in Norman, Oklahoma. This offered senior citizens and healthcare workers the opportunity to receive the Pfizer vaccine and automatically sign up for the follow up vaccination. The POD is processing approximately 1200 people a day. Before many people in my area were driving up to 150 or more miles, roundtrip, to try to get vaccines. This has greatly improved availability for the elderly in my area. -
2021-01-07
A Virtual Funeral is Now Normal
On January 7, 2021 I attended a virtual funeral service for a friend's husband. This was the first time I had seen an online funeral. It was streamed on Youtube while the closest family and friends attended in person. I watched the service from my phone alone at work. It felt surreal. I recognized several friends on the tiny screen with familiar voices, but it felt far away. Since then I have spoken to a few people and mentioned how I felt disconnected to be on the other side of the screen. Many others had similar stories about these kinds of services. It was now normal to experience these things, but I can't shake the feeling of how much the experience continues to bother me. I hope some day online services won't be necessary. -
2020-12-17
Attending a Family Funeral During COVID-19
Standing outside in the cold dry wind, everyone was wearing masks. Small groups were huddled together but each grouping apart from the other. This was not how it was meant to be. The week before Christmas, I experienced this attending a relative's funeral. The pandemic made a traditional funeral impossible. Typically the gathering would be large and focused on coming together for strength. The service was minimized to a graveside service where social distancing could be practiced. The death was not COVID related, but the resulting affects of COVID completely disrupted our most guarded family traditions. The inconveniences of daily COVID restrictions seem trivial in comparison to the large moments that can never be replaced. Our family hopes for a future day when we can properly mourn this loss hand in hand. -
2021-01-30
Round Valley Indian Tribes, COVID testing and welfare checks
This is a webpage hosted by the Round Valley Indian Tribes to present COVID-19 testing information (downloadable flyer), procedures to follow to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, and a form to request assistance related to COVID-19 impacts. -
2021-01-26
Documents that Explore Vaccine Differences Between States
It shows the differences in vaccines between states which will be valuable in the future. -
2021-01-24
An uneasy Quarantine
My experience during the pandemic was a little unsettled. My fiancee and were in the process of selling our house when this new SARS virus started to really spread throughout the United States. Surprisingly we received many good offers and one was too good to pass up. We had a house lined up in a rural area of Florida but that deal fell through. It seems as the pandemic got worse and spread rapidly in the major cities a lot of other people began buying properties in rural areas driving the prices up so the deal fell through. We then began looking for a house in the suburbs of Fort Myers, Florida. In the meantime, I had to live with my parents while we closed on a new house. This was an anxious time as both of them are over 60 years old and my father has existing lung problems I was and am dreadfully worried about him. However, with some luck and a great deal of vigilance and adherence to recommended conduct by the CDC, none of us ever got infected. My fiancee works in a large hospital because of her knowledge of safety procedures and warning signs our family has so far never gotten sick. Despite a few people close to us contracting the virus including our neighbor and her brother who was frail before contracting Covid and is now fighting for his life. These are scary and painfull times. -
2021-01
COVID-19 deaths soaring in Tennessee's more rural counties
Over the past several weeks, Knox County and the rural counties surrounding Knox have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic. Tennessee and its rural areas were not hit hard initially by the pandemic, but have become a major area for concern as of late. -
2021-01-24
SE NM’s Hospital COVID-Bed Capacity
This information displayed on this webpage contains an interactive map with corresponding data summary of the dedicated COVID beds and general capacity of hospitals in southeastern New Mexico for January 24th, 2021. This snapshot demonstrates a reasonably live and present condition of the availability for urgent and emergent COVID medical care within that geographic region and at that date and time. -
2021-01-21
Navajo Nation in Phase 1B of COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan (updated Jan. 21, 2021)
(KRQE) Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez urges the Federal government to continue the distribution of COVID vaccine to the Navajo Nation. Until then, the vaccine distribution plan will proceed into the next phase- focusing its efforts to provide vaccines to those who are 65 or older. According to Nez, over 70 percent of the vaccines issued by the Federal government have already been administered to the Navajo people. -
2021-01-22
Navajo Nation COVID-19 Vaccine
Navajo Department of Health directive on Vaccine roll-out. -
2021-01-22
A Covid Experience
I learn about myself through the stories of others; this account is both a recounting of my friend Stephanie’s story, a conversation we had after she contracted Covid19, and my own introspection about the different impact that written and spoken stories have. -
2021-01-14
I got the vaccine!
On Thursday, January 14, I got the first round of the Moderna vaccine. I am a high school teacher in American Falls Idaho. I think I might be one of the first teachers in the country to get the vaccine. I am very excited and honored to be among the first. I’m very grateful to my school district for working hard to get vaccines. -
2021-06-14
Embracing the Plants
Once the pandemic was in full swing, food became rather scarce out in the county where I live. Frozen meals? Gone. Frozen vegetables? Gone. Meat? Gone. Dairy products? Sparse. What I could find in abundance were fresh fruit and vegetables. Largely because these do not store long term and people were stocking up on everything that they could hoard for the long haul. Could I really sustain my meat-loving family of 4 on fresh fruits and vegetables to help stretch our very thin stock of meats and dairy products? I have included some basic recipes that I used to help get through the pandemic. This massive change in diet left a lasting impact on my experience of the pandemic through my sense of smell, taste, and hearing. Meals no longer smelled like warm cooked meat with roasting potatoes. Meals became light and fresh. My house began smelling more like a garden every time I prepared a meal. I also no longer smelled the warmth of the stove or the smell of a pan heating up, since we chose to eat a lot of the plants and fruits in a more raw style to get the maximum nutritional value. The taste of meals and snacks changed from processed foods to natural snacks like nuts, dates, and dried fruit. I could taste the change from the pandemic. Everyday noises that would occur in my pre-pandemic household were no longer present in my pandemic household. No longer was there the sound of the oven turning on, the microwave running, or oil popping in the pan on the stove top. Instead, the new normal sounds were that of the food processor to make hummus, the sound of the blender making smoothies, and the sharp tap of the knife colliding with the cutting board. The recipes I chose to include are ones that we started with that have changed the way we eat. These were the easiest to sustain with readily available produce in my rural area. -
2020-12-01
COVID in the Navajo Nation
When I was originally planning my trip, I hoped to visit Antelope Canyon, as well as a few other parks on the Navajo Reservation, but the Navajo Nation has been one of the hardest-hit regions in the country, so by the time I was in the area, the parks were closed, and even if they had been open, I wouldn’t have felt comfortable visiting and spreading it more, even if I would have been outside and away from people. Because of that experience I wanted to take this space to try to amplify their experience. This Instagram account records the experience of an organization providing relief to members of the tribe. There are only 45 search results for Navajo in the archive, which I would constitute as an archival silence considering that many cities with comparable populations have hundreds of entries. I know that taking a screenshot of a website can only tell you so much, but it is the best way I could come up with of elevating the voices of the Navajo Nation, which is an important practice to engage within the context of archival work. -
2020-05-29
Student-generated map shows COVID-19 travel restrictions in Northern Canada
An undergraduate student at the University of Alberta created a map of travel restrictions and road closures in Canada's North in an effort to document how Indigenous and remote communities are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. -
2020-12-08
Helping residents of N.W.T town get cheaper groceries during the pandemic
A Northwest Territories man's new business involves driving back and forth to the Alberta border to pickup lower priced groceries for the residents of Hay River. -
2020-12-05
You can't get Covid from a cow
Being around the countryside has been a relief from the paranoia of the world. The cattle have no clue that the world around them is any different. -
2020-12-01
Wet'suwet'en women urge B.C. to declare oil and gas work non-essential amid COVID
Article discussing the Wet'suwet'en women petitioning for the oil and gas industry to not be considered "essential" -
2020-11-28
Canada adds extra C$691 million to agriculture sector, cuts timeline for dairy farmers' aid
Article about funding for the agriculture industry -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Counties (Olympic Peninsula)
I live in a rural part western Washington about one hundred miles from the initial outbreak of the Covid-19 in Seattle. Even though I live in a county that voted Republican in 2016 and 2020 (the first time Grays Harbor County voted Republican for the first time since 1928 when Herbert Hoover was elected) people took the restrictions seriously. As we hear about the supposed difference in Covid-19 outbreaks between Red and Blue parts of the country I thought it would be interesting to show the county-by-county numbers for Covid-19. The file attached shows the health department web pages for each county. This shows how serious this region took the outbreak. The file is static, so anyone interested should follow the web addresses to see current numbers for active contact tracing, active Covid-19 cases and Covid-19 deaths. -
2020-12-09
Covid-19 Statistics for Western Washington Native Tribes (Olympic Peninsula)
This is a collection of all of the western Washington Native American tribe’s Covid-19 information. Unlike other parts of the country, western Washington tribes have a low Covid-19 rate. -
12/01/2020
Scott Campbell Oral History, 2020/12/01
Scott Campbell was born in Panama to military parents. He and his family moved to Colorado when he was young, living close to his father's family, where his interest in a sort of do-it-yourself lifestyle was awakened. After high school, he moved to central Alabama, working several retail jobs before landing his job at FIS Financial Solutions. After buying his own property, he began gardening and doing a bit of homesteading on his own in Alabama. Scott now spends his days editing financial programs and his down time taking care of various projects and plants around his home. -
2020-11-24
Mother and employee
Dana Adkins is a Mother that works at a summertime resort. She discusses how the pandemic impacted her job. Also discussed is how her children handled the changes to their routines. -
11/19/2020
David McKenney Oral History, 2020/11/19
David John McKenney lived in rural Michigan for most of his life. In this interview, David reflects upon the challenges that COVID-19 wrought on the rural school districts for which he works. He describes how he and his coworkers wrote code that helped transition students to remote learning and saved other districts countless hours of labor. David also touches upon his experience in Ukraine and the flu quarantine that occurred there seasonally. He contrasts this with the current American quarantine and highlights his concerns about freedoms of speech in reference to lockdowns. His concerns about freedoms of speech also extends to the future of Christianity and the church. He expresses his anger about the 2020 election season. In addition, David discusses his frustration with rioting in Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. David remarks on the shift in real estate from urban areas to suburban areas and the rise in construction. Finally, David comments on his participation in pandemic trends (such as baking bread) and increased time spent with family.