Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Navajo Nation Faces Unbearable Grief After Virus 'Spreads Like Wildfire' Through The Tribe
The New York Times: Tribal Nations Face Most Severe Crisis In Decades As The Coronavirus Closes Casinos
Tribal nations around the United States are facing their most severe crisis in decades as they grapple simultaneously with some of the deadliest coronavirus outbreaks in rural America and the economic devastation caused by the protracted shutdown of nearly 500 tribally owned casinos. The Navajo Nation, the country’s largest Indian reservation, now has a higher death rate than any U.S. state except New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts. (Romero and Healy, 5/11)
The Associated Press: 'The Grief Is So Unbearable': Virus Takes Toll On Navajo
The virus arrived on the reservation in early March, when late winter winds were still blowing off the mesas and temperatures at dawn were often barely above freezing. It was carried in from Tucson, doctors say, by a man who had been to a basketball tournament and then made the long drive back to a small town in the Navajo highlands. There, believers were preparing to gather in a small, metal-walled church with a battered white bell and crucifixes on the window. On a dirt road at the edge of the town, a hand-painted sign with red letters points the way: “Chilchinbeto Church of the Nazarene.” (Fonseca and Sullivan, 5/12)
The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Been Devastating To The Navajo Nation, And Help For Complex Fight Has Been Slow
A group of more than a dozen tribe members filled dozens of dust-covered cars with diapers, flour, rice and water, the bare staples that are sustaining the Navajo Nation as many fall ill and die. If the novel coronavirus has been cruel to America, it has been particularly cruel here, on a desert Native American reservation that maybe has never felt more alone than during this pandemic. There's a lack of running water, medical infrastructure, Internet access, information and adequate housing. (Klemko, 5/11)
NPR: Coronavirus Infections Rise On Navajo Nation
If the Navajo Nation were a state it would have the highest rate of coronavirus cases per capita after New York. At least 100 people have died from the virus and 3,122 people have tested positive. On March 4 the Navajo Nation president cautioned its citizens to limit their travel. But a few days later doctors say a man who had been at a basketball tournament in Tucson brought the virus to a tiny church in Chilchinbito. In response to COVID-19, dozens of people drove hours from all over the region to gather and pray. Afterward, they returned to all parts of the reservation unwittingly bringing the virus home with them. (Morales, 5/11)
NPR: Checkpoint Clash Escalates Between South Dakota Governor, Tribal Leaders
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem says she will follow through on her threat to take legal action against two Native American tribes that have defied orders to remove highway checkpoints onto tribal land in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus on their reservations. In a Monday press conference, Noem affirmed that her office will take the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe to federal court, saying the checkpoints that were put in place last month on state and federal highways have prevented essential services from making their way to areas in need. (Romo, 5/12)
The Hill: Interior Watchdog To Probe Why Tribal Stimulus Was Steered To Corporations
The Department of the Interior’s internal watchdog has kicked off a probe into whether a top official inappropriately tried to steer coronavirus stimulus funds. The letter from Interior’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) comes as several Democratic lawmakers requested an investigation into Tara Sweeney, Interior’s assistant secretary for Indian Affairs. Sweeney had assisted the Treasury Department in determining how to distribute $8 billion on CARES funding that Congress set aside for tribal governments. But her handling of the issue led to calls for her resignation after for-profit companies, including one Sweeney used to work for, would have been eligible for the payments. (Beitsch, 5/11)
