Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
January 27, 2021
Tribes set winter commercial fishery
A winter commercial gillnet
fishery will open at the Columbia
River from 6 a.m. on Monday,
February 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturday,
February 6. The area is the John
Day pool and The Dalles pool only.
Allowed gear are gillnets with
no mesh size restriction. Allow-
able sales are sturgeon from 43 to
54 inches fork length, salmon (any
species), steelhead, walleye, bass,
carp, catfish, shad and yellow
perch. These fish many be sold or
kept for subsistence purposes. Fish
landed during the open period are
allowed to be sold after the period
concludes.
Sanctuaries: River mouth to the
dam closed areas applicable to gillnet
gear are in effect.
Zone 6 platform, and hook
and line: This fishery will be open
from 6 a.m. on Monday, February
1 through 6 p.m. on Friday, March
19. Gear are hoop nets, dip bag
nets, dip nets, and hook and line.
Allowable sales are salmon (any spe-
cies), steelhead, shad, carp, catfish,
walleye, bass and yellow perch.
These may be sold or retained for
subsistence. Sanctuaries: Standard
river mouth and dam closed areas
applicable to platform, and hook
and line gear are in effect.
This announcement comes from
the CRITFC and its member tribes.
IHS updates its Covid-19 testing data
The Indian Health Service has
updated its Covid-19 testing data
for Indian Country.
According to the report: Of the
tests administered by IHS, 172,093
tests have returned positive for
Covid-19. That represents an in-
crease of 0.2 percent from the
171,721 cases previously reported
by the IHS.
Altogether since March 2020,
IHS has conducted 1,872,753
coronavirus tests.
Based on the IHS cumulative
percent positive testing, the high-
est rates have been seen in three
areas. Two of them include the
state of Arizona, indicating a dis-
proportionate toll of Covid-19 in
that state:
The Navajo area was at 16.9
percent positivity. The Phoenix
area, 14.6 percent. And the Okla-
homa City area, 13.4 percent
So far this year, five areas have
seen dramatic growth in Covid-19.
They are:
The California area was at 18.1
percent. The Albuquerque area,
17.7 percent. The Phoenix area,
17.5 percent. The Navajo area,
17.1 percent. And the Oklahoma
City area, 16.8 percent. Two of
these regions include the state of
Arizona.
Overall, 9.9 percent of IHS
tests have been positive since the
onset of the pandemic, the data
shows. Meanwhile, the 7-day av-
erage has leveled off after increas-
ing steadily during the holiday sea-
son. It now stands at 11.2 percent.
Page 3
Danger of virus variant
Airborne-particle experts ex-
plain how to stay safe from the
new and highly contagious
coronavirus strains:
A fast-spreading variant of
the coronavirus that causes
Covid-19 has been found in at
least 10 states—including Or-
egon—and people are wonder-
ing: How do I protect myself
now?
The new variant has been
estimated to be 50-percent
more easily transmitted than
common variants, though for
now it appears to affect people’s
health in the same way.
Additionally, there is some
evidence that patients infected
with the new variant—called
the B.1.1.7 variant—may have
a higher viral load: That means
they may expel more virus-con-
taining particles when they
breathe, talk or sneeze.
With people possibly having
more virus in their bodies and
the virus being more infectious,
everyone should take extra care
and precautions. Wearing face
masks and social distancing are
essential.
Spaces and activities that
were previously deemed
‘safe’—such as some indoor
work environments—may
present an elevated infection
risk as the variant spreads.
The concentration of aero-
sol particles is usually highest
right next to the individual emit-
ting the particles and decreases
with distance from the source.
However, in indoor environ-
ments, aerosol concentration
levels can quickly build up, simi-
lar to how cigarette smoke ac-
cumulates within enclosed
spaces.
This is particularly problem-
atic in spaces that have poor
ventilation.With the new vari-
ant, aerosol concentration lev-
els that might not have previ-
ously posed a risk could now
lead to infection.
What can you do to stay
safe?
Pay attention to the type of
face mask you use, and how it
fits.
Follow social distancing
guidelines.
Think carefully about the
environment when entering an
enclosed area—as to both the
ventilation and how the people
interact.
Quarantine after vaccine?
You may wonder whether you
still need to quarantine when you
have been exposed to Covid-19 if
have received your vaccination.
Some answers:
If you have been fully vacci-
nated with the Covid-19 vaccine
and it’s been at least 14 days since
your final dose, you are no longer
required to quarantine if you have
had close contact with someone
with Covid-19, according to guide-
lines of the Oregon Health Author-
ity.
If you’re fully immunized, you
should still monitor yourself for
symptoms of Covid-19 during the
14 days after exposure, and if
symptoms develop, you should iso-
late and seek testing.
People who have been fully
vaccinated should continue to fol-
low measures to protect them-
selves and others, including main-
taining six feet of physical distance,
avoiding crowds, washing hands
often and wearing a mask—or as
now recommended, two masks.
Looking forward to 2021 Valentines Day with Warm Springs artist Travis Bobb.
Skull found on reservation
An individual who was hiking in a remote part of the reserva-
tion earlier this month found a human skull, according to Warm
Springs Police Department.
The hiker was apparently salvaging wood from an old dock,
January 10, along Tenino Road. The person noticed a round
item on the ground, then realized it was a human skull, said Bill
Elliott, Warm Springs Public Safety general manager.
The individual who came across the skull called the police,
who searched the area, finding “several other bones that were of
interest,” Mr. Elliott said. The FBI was notified, and agents ar-
rived on the reservation to process the site.
A preliminary examination by the medical examiner’s office
revealed the remains could have been in the area for anywhere
from one to ten years. Warm Springs Tribal Police said they would
check their database for missing people or runaways from the
last 10 years as an initial step in the investigation.
State covid, vaccine update
The Oregon Health Authority
this week reported that 14,755
new doses of Covid-19 vaccina-
tions were added to the state im-
munization registry.
Of this total, nearly each new
dose was admistered during the
week of January 23.
Cumulative daily totals can
take several days to finalize be-
cause providers have 72 hours
to report doses administered and
technical challenges have caused
many providers to lag in their
reporting.
The Health Authority has been
providing technical support to
vaccination sites to improve the
timeliness of their data entry into
the state’s Alert Immunization In-
formation System—IIS.
Oregon has now administered
a cumulative of more than
301,000 first and second doses
of Covid-19 vaccines. All vacci-
nations were administered by Or-
egon hospitals, long-term care fa-
cilities, emergency medical service
agencies, urgent care facilities and
Local Public Health Authorities.
To date, 492,450 doses of vac-
cine have been delivered to sites
across Oregon.
Cases and deaths
The new confirmed and pre-
sumptive Covid-19 cases re-
ported in Oregon earlier this
week happened in the following
counties:
Benton (3), Clackamas (49),
Coos (26), Crook (9), Curry (1),
Deschutes (31), Douglas (14),
Harney (1), Hood River (9), Jack-
son (47), Jefferson (4), Josephine
(20), Klamath (26), Lake (5), Lane
(49), Lincoln (6), Linn (18),
Malheur (3), Marion (72), Morrow
(3), Multnomah (78), Polk (18),
Tillamook (1), Umatilla (16), Union
(5), Wasco (2), Washington (59)
and Yamhill (7).
Covid-19 vaccination scheduling with explanations