Pine Ridge locks down for 72 hours after two Lakotas test positive for coronavirus

Pine Ridge locks down for 72-hours after two Lakotas test positive for coronavirus in Wounded Knee District

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News
Photo: Oglala Response Team
May 12, 2020

PINE RIDGE, South Dakota — The Oglala Sioux Nation locked down on Monday night for 72-hours after two Lakotas in Wounded Knee District tested positive for the coronavirus. There will be no movement during this time and stores will be shut down. Dialysis and emergency medical are exempt.

"We do not want a community spread here, we do not want a mass outbreak here," said Dakota High Hawk, public information officer with the Oglala Sioux and member of the COVID-19 Response Task Force. High Hawk urged Lakotas to stay calm and stay home.

"Our reservation does have two confirmed cases. They are located in the Wounded Knee District," said Oglala Sioux media specialist Karen Eagle.

"These are our relatives," Eagle said, urging eveyone to remember that they are part of the Lakota family. She said the two people with coronavirus are in the same household. The main communities in the district are Wounded Knee and Manderson.

"The purpose of this lockdown is to prevent community spread," she said, adding that tribal workers will work with the family to see where the two have been and who they have been in contact with.

"There will be no movement on the reservation," she said. "We ask you to respect the border monitors."

"You will not be able to leave the reservation even for medical appointments," she said, adding that farmers and ranchers are not allowed access to tribal land at this time.

During the lockdown, movement is shut down and no one is allowed to leave their residences or engage in essential business. Violators can be fined up to $1,000.

Pass through vehicles on major highways will be allowed to pass, but unable to stop, and will be monitored, the Task Force said during a broadcast on social media on Monday night.

Meanwhile in the bordertown of Rapid City, a WalMart employee at the Lacrosse store tested positive for coronavirus. In Rapid City, 12 Native People tested positive for coronavirus at Oyate Health Center.

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