San Carlos Apache Tribe quarantines COVID patient

The San Carlos Apache Tribe announced Thursday it had accepted its first COVID-19 positive patient, a member of the tribe who has been living in Phoenix.

The patient has not had any contact with the reservation or its residents and as of Thursday was being held in quarantine at the San Carlos Apache Healthcare Corporation hospital, according to a tribe press release. The patient has not been on the reservation and in the community since February, according to a post by the San Carlos Apache Emergency Response Commission on Facebook.

Hospital CEO Victoria Began said the patient had “no other health care options” in Phoenix and the tribe had a “duty” to treat them.

Began said the hospital has a COVID-19 isolation area with a negative pressure room that will prevent air from circulating outside the area. She added that the hospital’s infection control room is “fully prepared.”

The patient will be returned to Phoenix only after they have recovered and test negative twice for the virus.

To date, the San Carlos Apache Tribe has had no positive coronavirus cases on the reservation, but the San Carlos Apache Emergency Response Commission report eight tribal members have tested positive who are living off the reservation. The Commission also reported 277 coronavirus tests had been completed as of May 14.

The tribe has adopted guidelines administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to mitigate the virus, including limiting crowd sizes to ten people. The guidelines are being enforced by the tribe through criminal fines of up to $1,000, the tribe said.