Tribal team focused on virus control
This article appeared in the August 2020 edition of the Chickasaw Times
ADA, Okla. - A Chickasaw Nation team of tribal administrators, health care professionals and employees is leading the effort to control the spread of COVID-19 at tribal facilities, and throughout the Chickasaw Nation.
Gov. Bill Anoatubby said the initiative was achieving positive results.
“Our team has built a solid system based on testing, contact tracing and containment that is serving our employees, patrons and citizens well,” Gov. Anoatubby said. “This public health crisis is impacting us, just as it is impacting the entire country. We have been aggressive in our efforts to control this virus and keep our people and our community safe.”
According to Lt. Gov. Chris Anoatubby, who is heavily involved with the team’s operational efforts, extensive testing is having the proper impact.
“Testing is absolutely one of the key strategies,” Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said. “We are conducting tests continually at a number of our tribal locations. If we can isolate the positive tests, it is tremendously effective in slowing the spread of the virus.”
A check of the Johns Hopkins University and New York Times tracking of active virus cases, the counties that make up the Chickasaw Nation are recording a 535 per 100,000 population positive result. In the counties that surround the Chickasaw Nation, that number jumps to 782 positives per 100,000.
“We have developed a system rooted in clinical and data science that we believe is working to contain and slow the spread,” Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said. “Our system includes a number of tribal departments. It has built-in checks and balances. We are checking and cross-checking all the time.”
Additionally, tribal contact tracers are on the phone daily searching for people who have been in contact with positive test patients. When tracers locate those who have been in contact with those who test positive, isolation is immediately recommended and tests scheduled.
Chickasaw Nation employees access an online screening tool each day before reporting to work. The answers provided determine if reporting to work is safe. Once at the workplace, employees are often screened again with temperature checks and another set of questions.
“The daily screening has worked well and our employees in all of our departments have been good partners in our mitigation efforts,” Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said. “If someone is sick, we want them to stay home. We can then set them up for a test and determine if we are dealing with the virus. We don’t want to promote an outbreak by allowing sick people at work.”
For the near future, Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said, the testing, tracing and containment system will continue to be in effect. The team, he said, was continually checking data and discussing containment options for months out.
“We are always looking down the road to anticipate what we may face in the future,” he said. “We believe we are going to be dealing with this issue for months, at minimum. We have modified our system as we have progressed, and I have no doubt we will continue to adjust as the facts warrant.”
Testing is being done regularly at the Chickasaw Nation Medical Center in Ada, and the satellite clinics in Purcell, Tishomingo and Ardmore. Additionally, the team has sent a mobile clinic to the WinStar facility in Thackerville, where rapid tests are being performed. Randomly chosen employees are also called in for weekly spot tests to increase surveillance for community spread.
Access to testing and other supplies, Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said, had been good through a partnership between the Chickasaw Nation Department of Health and the U.S. Indian Health Service. Essential supplies, he said, had been entering the inventory as the supplies being replaced are used. The partnership between the Department of Health and the IHS has been positive and has ensured reliable supply lines.
“It is so important to have the testing kits and other critical supplies we need to track and contain the virus,” Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said. “We have been very fortunate to have this great partnership that is keeping us supplied properly.”
For all citizens, employees and the community, he said, practicing preventive behavior is the very best contribution everyone can make.
“Wear a mask, practice responsible distancing, wash your hands often and ask your family to do the same,” Lt. Gov. Anoatubby said. “If we work together as Chickasaws and the community, we can effectively control this virus and keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy.”