Rosebud Reservation Locks Down

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From President Rodney M. Bordeaux:

Reservation Wide Lockdown

There are now officially up to 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 within Todd County.I am advising that the Rosebud Sioux Tribe will be locked down effective at midnight tonight (12:01 AM) 05/14/20 until 05/17/20 at 6 AM.

This is being done pursuant to RST Council Resolution 2020-75, in which the RST Council authorized me to act in such a manner.

I had hoped that this was not necessary. Unfortunately, there were too many people in our community who refused to take precautions of social distancing and the wearing of masks in public and also refused to self-quarantine or take any of this seriously. We are officially up to 13 cases in Todd County. We fear that this number will continue to rise and we can no longer wait.

Before I get too far into the details, I would like to acknowledge those among us who have been practicing social distancing, who have been wearing the face masks, and who have been in compliance with the stay at home orders this whole time.
We appreciate the sacrifice each of you have made during this troubling time.

I.
RST Law Enforcement will have the following checkpoints:
Highway 83 near Nebraska State Line/Rosebud Casino Highway 18 east of Okreek Highway 18 near Upper Cut Meat Highway 44 around Corn Creek community and Highway 44 JCT near White River We will be having random checkpoints at other locations as well. Commercial traffic will be allowed to proceed through the checkpoints on to their destinations without issue.

III.
People from outside of the area will be advised that our county has had a substantial increase in cases of COVID and that they are encouraged to continue through to their destination and not stop within Todd County.

IV.
Businesses will only be permitted to maintain hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. during the lockdown. This will allow families to get the supplies that they might need during the lockdown. This will allow ranchers to tend to their livestock. Our people are expected to be within their homes or yards unless they are out getting supplies as needed or tending their livestock between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Anyone found away from their homes and yards may be arrested or issued citations to appear in court under the emergency directives announced yesterday. TECRO workers on construction projects will be able to go to the worksites provided they are named on a list to be provided by TECRO.

VI.
Essential employees will be permitted to go to work unless they can work from home. The President’s Office will provide a list of essential employees who will be required to physically come to work during the lockdown. Simply having a badge indicating that you are an essential employee will not authorize you to travel—you need to be on the list.

VII.
Dialysis treatments and transportation will be permitted to continue as scheduled through the lockdown. Medical Professionals and affiliated staff will be permitted to travel as long as they are performing their official duties.

VIII. Local residents will not be permitted to leave Todd County unless they have an existing medical or dental appointment and proof of the appointment/procedure.

The goal of this lockdown is so that we can do the contact tracing that we need to do to work on suppression of the spread of this virus.