A State of Emergency was declared in the end of March this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediately following, Emergency Management Director, Nelson Andrews Jr initiated a request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for direct Federal Assistance. As the primary responsibility for all MWT departments is to provide continuous essential services to the Tribal community, the majority of these services have been provided remotely, as the Community and Government Center has been closed to non-essential employees. The safest approach has been for MWT staff to support their departmental services while working remotely.
As we are now beginning to notice outside businesses and entities opening up in different phases within the National, State and Local environment, it may get confusing at times to understand the differences of where we stand in comparison. Under different circumstances we would follow the local schools etc. with various closings and openings. Some of the major differences are based off of locations of infrastructure and facility locations. The majority of infrastructure for our Tribe is located within one structure as opposed to comparable entities within the State and surrounding Counties that are each within separated structures. This has added to the complexities of safe planning, although every consideration has been taken into account and specific plans for re-entry have been established over many months of meetings and planning sessions with CDC infectious disease doctors and FEMA staff.
A phased approach to the re-entry planning was utilized through the MWT “Resilient Comeback” document. Phased approach planning was also utilized for the Tribal School WLRP and Tribal Court.
The date of Monday, October, 12th 2020 is the tentative start date of Phase 2C, which will consist of staggered shifts of two staff members from each dept. for two days as applicable, as needed at the Community and Government Center. The current planning for the WLRP School is to tentatively start elementary school classes again in the “Yurt” toward the end of October.
Three weeks following the start of Phase 2C, Monday, November, 2nd 2020 will be the tentative start of Phase 3, which consists of 25% of staff staggered shifts, as needed. The safest primary approach will still be for staff remote work. The phased approach for re-entry planning is dependent on COVID-19 conditions within community and is subject to scaling back as needed.
Please see below for a list of some of the facility re-entry safety measures that are currently in place and currently in process.
C&GC safety measures currently in place:
Screening and monitoring of health conditions; daily sign in form for symptoms check w/ “cleared” sticker received from security,
Symptom screening for staff through the “Text Illness Monitoring System” (TIMS)
Thermal temperature check machines, (1 thermal temp/mask reader wall install @ lobby entrance, 1 mobile full body thermal temp reader @ lobby entrance, 1 thermal temp/mask reader wall install @ court entrance)
Handheld thermal temperature readers (as needed),
Plastic divider partitions @ lobby entrance,
Retractable divider stanchions @ lobby entrance & court area, (additional divider stanchions in stock)
Safety glass install at security desk,
Step N Pull - hands free door openers,
Handheld electrostatic fogging machines, (units within each section of facility for department, school daily use/cleaning staff backpack foggers for daily sanitizing)
UVC light air purifier machines (in each section),
UVC light lockers for items and mail (intended for; lobby, school, court)
Touchless hand sanitizer dispensers (in each section),
PPE; masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes (available as needed daily)
Covid precaution floor signs, arrows, signage,
Clear plastic dividers w/ accessible open door (meeting spaces),
Staff, two week testing at IHS,
Re-entry Plan, School Re-entry Planning Document, Court Re-entry Planning Document
C&GC safety measures currently in process: Early October
Installation of touchless sinks, soap dispensers throughout entire facility, school & yurt
Clear face masks for school.
“Please keep in mind that every step has been taken to ensure that that the safety and health of our Tribal Community is the number one priority,” said Nelson Andrews Jr. “The careful process of ensuring that we have taken every single precaution and have put into place every single safety measure possible regardless of cost in approved EM Dept. funding, has been our main focus every day for over the past 6 months,” said Andrews. “Additional planning measures are also underway in preparation of a potential second Covid wave as well as for Covid vaccinations and flu season complications. Complex incident planning while in a Covid environment is also in process.”
Andrews also reinforced the importance of core protection. “Please continue with mask wearing, practicing good hand hygiene, social distancing, getting tested, staying home when sick and avoiding large group settings. These important steps are to protect ourselves, loved ones and the most vulnerable members of our Tribe. We will all get through this together safely, as we move forward toward the new normal.”
