The last time Massachusetts confirmed more than 1,000 new coronavirus infections on back-to-back days, in mid-May, conditions were improving within the State as everyone was preparing for initial re-openings.
Here we are now five months later and the majority of counties within the State are in the midst of a steady resurgence of the highly-contagious virus thousands being reported daily toward the end of October.
The MA Department of Public Health also reported 32 recent COVID-19 deaths over the second to last weekend in October, increasing the virus's death toll in Massachusetts to close to ten thousand people since mid-March.
Since then, testing has increased in Massachusetts, and at the Mashpee Wampanoag Indian Health Service Unit (IHS). The MWT IHS has conducted approximately 1,200 COVID-19 tests with 26 positive cases reported at the end of October. The public knowledge within our Tribal Community and surrounding counties around how the coronavirus spreads has evolved, wearing a mask in public has become routine for most people, hospitals are no longer overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and everyone now has more experience coping with life during a global pandemic.
As of the MA Department of Public Health’s (DPH) latest update’s toward the end of October, there were 77 cities or towns in Massachusetts that DPH designated as being at the highest risk for COVID-19 transmission. The statewide infection rate has been climbing to the point that it would put the entire state into the highest-risk red category.
The number of active cases of the highly-contagious coronavirus is at its highest point since the state began reporting that data and has been steadily climbing since the middle of the summer.
Through the efforts of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Management Department the community levels reported have been kept relatively low since the onset of the pandemic. These aggressive efforts have undoubtedly assisted in curbing an outbreak of the virus, although it is inconclusive to truly determine positive cases and deaths directly related to the pandemic, unless Tribal members are tested at an IHS clinic, there is no way of accurately tracking positivity rates among the tribal community within the State.
Non-IHS facilities do not ask for Tribal membership on registration forms, and even if they do, there is no consistent communication back to the specific Tribes in the region.
Any number of Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal members could have been tested and/or treated in any non-IHS facility across the country and our Tribe would not know about it, unless the person self-reports, which is not usually required and difficult to enforce.
The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Management Department is preparing for a second wave of COVID-19, while also completing safety preparations of the Community and Government Center. Through the efforts of numerous grants, applied for and received by the department, state-of-the art technology has been implemented in preparations of the next phases outlined in the “Resilient Comeback” document. Some of the new safety measures include; thermal temperature screening cameras, safety glass, touchless hand sanitizer dispensers, touchless faucets, touchless toilets & urinals, touchless soap dispensers, UVC light air-purifiers, UVC light lockers for mail and door foot pull mechanisms. In addition thousands of masks, gloves, hand sanitizer and other PPE items have been received for distribution through the Food Pantry distribution site, with additional items being stockpiled for the second wave.
With a second wave approaching this winter, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe Emergency Management Department plans to keep the Tribe in step with the “new normal.” A phased approach to the Tribe’s re-entry planning is outlined in a document they developed entitled “Resilient Comeback”. It details what this school year will look like, as well as how Tribal Court will function. Plans are also being made for the distribution of COVID vaccinations and potential flu season complications in collaboration efforts with MWT IHS. Director Nelson Andrews Jr says that “while Massachusetts may relax the state's COVID guidelines, that doesn’t mean our Tribe will necessarily follow suit. What happens outside tribal lands isn’t always what’s in the best interest of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe” explained Andrews.
As this pandemic continues to sweep across the globe, The MWT Emergency Management Department is confident that our tribe is as best prepared to stay safe and healthy this winter. With technical support and funding from FEMA, and other Federal partners we will continue in our mission to support the Tribal community through providing resources and PPE, as well as non-congregate sheltering for sick and homeless tribal members.
