Greetings to my Puyallup Tribal community.
I would like to thank each one of you for your sacrifice and efforts to social distance and help us in dealing with this coronavirus crisis.
This has been a hard and difficult time for many and my heart goes out to you. If any of you get sick please call us at PTHA for possible testing or treatment. We are there for you.
At the same time, we are continuing to see positive results from our efforts which in many cases the tribe began before the state mandated similar rules. Our community numbers are much lower than anticipated. So far, in over 100 patients who had potential infections, we determined the need to test 64 of them, and only five of them tested positive. In Pierce County the number of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths has steadily declined over the last two to three weeks. The so-called surge was less than expected and has passed us.
However, we are not done yet. On Thursday there were 37 new cases in Pierce County. Again although this is less than the peak, as you can see we are still in this fight. Please continue to stay at home and stay healthy. If you must go out please wear a mask. Try to stay 6 feet away from others. If there are elders in your home, please love them and care for them – from a safe distance to lessen their chance of getting infected. Let’s continue to work together to defeat the coronavirus!
Dr. Shelton,
Medical Director of the Puyallup Tribe
Graphic from the Department of Health of the COVID-19 curve:
