Public health officer appointed by Tribal Council
From a Yurok Tribal Council release:
The Yurok Tribal Council recently appointed Angie Brown as the COVID-19 Incident Command Team’s Public Health Officer.
Brown brings more than 25 years of local, Public Health experience to the Incident Command Team. She will be overseeing the Yurok Public Health Task Force, which is responsible for developing and implementing plans to prevent the spread of COVID-19 on the Yurok Reservation. The veteran healthcare professional will also provide medical oversight on the enforcement of the Tribe’s Public Health Ordinance and other related regulations.
“We are very grateful to have Ms. Brown on our team,” said Joseph L. James, the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “She is going to play a pivotal role during the next phase of this ever-evolving emergency.”
“Ms. Brown has the perfect background for this position. She is incredibly informed about infectious disease control and is equally knowledgeable regarding public health in our community,” added Serene Hayden, the Yurok Tribe’s Incident Commander.
Brown is the Credentialed School Nurse for the KlamathTrinity Joint Unified School District and leads the organization’s response to the COVID-19 emergency. She has a comprehensive understanding of what local tribal entities, counties and the state are doing to confront this unprecedented crisis. Brown has also served as a Public Health Nurse for the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services, where she was involved in communicable disease control and prevention. Becoming a Certified Public Health Nurse in 1995, she has worked for both state and tribal agencies in Humboldt County.
“I have spent my entire career cultivating a professional skillset to address complex health issues in our community,” Brown said. “I am excited to help the community in this new capacity and am looking forward to building upon all of the great work that has been accomplished to date and continuing in an effort to create community wellness and prevention through a culturally sensitive, holistic and trauma informed/resiliency approach.”
COVID-19 update
There have been zero confirmed COVID-19 cases on the Yurok Reservation. The flat infection rate speaks to the success of the Tribe’s rapid and sustained response to this farreaching crisis. On March 13, the Yurok Tribal Council issued an emergency declaration, mobilizing more than 100 staff members to confront the many facets of the unparalleled public health emergency. On April 6, the Tribe closed the reservation to visitors and instituted a curfew. For more than two months, the Tribe has been delivering food and supply boxes on a weekly basis to approximately 500 elders. The Tribal Council has provided $1,250 to Tribal citizens who are facing financial challenges because of the pandemic and are over the age of 18 by December 30, 2020. The Council also set aside $2 million in CARES funding to help tribal business owners and entrepreneurs recover from the COVID-19 recession. Additionally, the Tribal Council recently issued an order requiring reservation residents to wear face coverings while in public.
“This is not the time to let our guard down. We are 100 percent vigilant in terms of protecting the most vulnerable community members. We are headed in the right direction, but we are not out of the woods yet,” concluded Rod Mendes, the Yurok Incident Management Team’s Deputy Commander.
If you are a Tribal citizen in need of assistance, please call 1-888-225-8952.