Special COVID-19 Video Message From Freida Jacques from the Onondaga Nation (New York)

Frieda Jacques

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We’ve asked spiritual, cultural and community leaders from many tribes to share a message about how we can all cope and respond to COVID-19. Please watch this Message of Reason with Freida Jacques from the Onondaga Nation in Nedrow, New York.

To watch the video featuring Freida Jacques of the Onondaga Nation click here.

As of January 25, the number of cases of COVID-19 among the Indian community has increased.

This data includes 173,972 positive tests for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, according to updated information from Indian Health Service (Department of Health and Human Services).

This data is updated three times per week and examines the positive tests results from 13 regional IHS areas including Alaska, California and the Great Plains. The Indian Health Service is working to coordinate a comprehensive public health response during the pandemic and is cooperating with our tribal partners as well as state and local health officials. Information is voluntarily provided from IHS, tribal and urban Indian organizations to Indian Health Service, which then compiles all the data.

Since mid-October, the IHS has shared positive infection rates as well as information about the spread of COVID-19 to the public. The highest infections rates are currently in three areas, two of them in Arizona, where there is a 18.8 percent positivity rate in the Navajo area with 977 deaths and a 17 percent positivity rate in the Phoenix area. There is also a 16.5 percent positivity rate in the Oklahoma City area.

To watch other special video messages, click on the links below:

To watch the video featuring Dorothy White Horn of the Kiowa Tribe click here.

To watch the video featuring Blas Preciado of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma click here.

To watch the video featuring Jessica White Plume of the Lakota tribe on how to make homemade masks, click here.

To watch the video featuring Leo Yankton of the Oglala Lakota tribe, click here.

To watch the video featuring Robert Old Horn of Crow Nation in English, click here and in Crow, click here.