Apr 10, 2020

The Latest: Oglala banish woman with COVID-19, husband

Posted Apr 10, 2020 4:24 PM

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — The Latest on the coronavirus outbreak in South Dakota (all times local):

9:50 a.m.

The Oglala Sioux have banished a non-tribal member with coronavirus and her husband from the Pine Ridge Reservation.

The tribal council deadlocked 9-9 this week on a motion to banish the woman and her husband. Council President Bear Runner broke the tie vote by voting in favor of the banishment.

“For an individual to leave the reservation going to one of the major hot spots where this virus is and then come back is just uncalled for,” President Julian Bear Runner said on KILI radio after the emergency session Wednesday. “It was negligent that this individual would still leave after laws were already in place not just tribally, but nationally and globally.”

The Rapid City Journal reports the woman contracted the coronavirus after returning from Denver on her way to a medical appointment in California that ended up being cancelled.

The woman with COVID-19 lives in Porcupine and works at Our Lady of Lourdes Elementary School, the Red Cloud Catholic school system said on its Facebook page.

The employee immediately contacted Red Cloud after learning about the positive test, and the school then alerted the tribe.

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7:40 a.m.

All customers and employees at the Ellsworth Air Force Base commissary and Army and Air Force Exchange facilities are required to wear face coverings to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.

The Defense Commissary Agency announced the new policy Thursday, making face masks mandatory for facilities worldwide starting Friday.

The 28th Bomb Wing commander directed the policy be delayed until Saturday at Ellsworth to ensure all were aware of the change.

The Rapid City Journa l reports the base is expecting a shipment of face masks for distribution to Ellsworth personnel next week.

The South Dakota Department of Health reported 447 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state, with eight cases originating in the counties immediately adjacent to Ellsworth.