Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

By Andy Gardner

While one of Akwesasne’s neighboring communities is in the very early stages of re-opening their economy, a tribal spokesperson says the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s will remain in effect until officials deem it is safe to rescind.

“We’re going to do what we feel is best to protect the ongoing health and safety of our people,” said St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Communications Director Brendan White. “We’re aware of some measures being lifted in neighboring areas, as well as what’s bring considered by New York State following May 15, and following the PAUSE order.”

White said he believes Akwesasne has been able to keep COVID-19 cases at to a minimum through community members’ diligence in adhering to social distancing guidelines.

“We want to express appreciation to our community members for being so compliant and cooperative with protective measures,” he said. “A huge niawen kowa to our residents.”

St. Lawrence County Administrator Ruth Doyle announced on May 4 that the county’s state of emergency will expire on May 15, and the legislative chairman isn’t likely to renew it, unless they see a big increase in COVID-19 infections.

She said Legislature Chairman Joe Lightfoot has “full contingency to re-declare (a state of emergency) if things change.”

The county administrator said the county’s Emergency Operations Center will be closed on weekends, and will close permanently when the state of emergency expires.

“When the 15th arrives … we will resume the operations at the Emergency Services Department,” Doyle said.

Dr. Andrew Williams, St. Lawrence County Board of Health president, told the legislature that as of May 4, the county “for the last seven days, we’ve had only 1.7 new cases per day, on average.”

That’s a stark change from when he spoke in early April and announced that the county had the fastest growing infection rate in the entire state.

“The overall trend is quite favorable,” the doctor said.

Dr. Williams said St. Lawrence County has tested 3,640 people as of May 4, about 3.2% of the county. Of those tested, 7.9% tested positive, he said.

In neighboring Franklin County, Legislature Chairman Donald Dabiew said their state of emergency expires May 13. He has sole authority to renew it, but he wants to get input from the county legislators before making a decision.

He said they were to have discussed the matter on Thursday, May 7, after press deadline for this edition.

“I like my full board to decide. I think the whole board should have input. I know it’s my decision, but it affects all the residents of the county,” he said. “I may not get a motion (from a legislator), but I will get their verbal input.”

Dabiew said the county hasn’t done a lot of testing for COVID-19, but he expects that to ramp up in the immediate future.

“We haven’t done as much testing as we’d like to do yet,” he said. “We need more tests. We got more from the state. We’re going to start testing more.”

In order for the regional economy to reopen, Franklin County must be able to test 30 residents out of every 1,000 per month.

“Under the governor’s new directive … that’s 1,500 per month for us,” he said. “We got more from the state. We’re going to start testing more.”

St. Lawrence County, which experienced a rapid coronavirus outbreak, had tested over 3,000 people as of May 4.

Dr. Andrew Williams, St. Lawrence County Board of Health president, told the legislature that as of May 4, the county “for the last seven days, we’ve had only 1.7 new cases per day, on average.”

That’s a stark change from when he spoke in early April and announced that the county had the fastest growing infection rate in the entire state.

“The overall trend is quite favorable,” the doctor said.

Dr. Williams said St. Lawrence County has tested 3,640 people as of May 4, about 3.2% of the county. Of those tested, 7.9% tested positive, he said.

“There was this initial, fairly rapid increase which was alarming, then we moved into steady growth,” Dr. Williams told the board. “In the last week we’ve had a decrease of new cases … in the context of a significant expansion of testing, so it’s meaningful.”