ONEIDA NATION (NBC 26) -- The Oneida Nation has extended its Public Health State of Emergency for the fifth time this year.
The Oneida Nation announced Thursday that the Oneida Reservation has been in a public health state of emergency and under a safer at home declaration since March.
"For six months we have been fighting the COVID-19 pandemic and the positive cases on the Oneida Reservation continue to rise," the Nation states in a news release.
From March through July, the Nation reported 50 cases of coronavirus; the Nation says that number doubled on September 1 with 107 positive confirmed cases. The Nation also expressed concern about the spread of the virus with the upcoming flu season.
"Until we see our numbers decrease significantly, we must continue to keep our public health emergency and safer at home declarations extended," said Chairman Hill.
As part of the Nation's response to the virus, the Nation said Oneida Nation School System begins the opening semester completely virtual. The Nation said it will continue to work with health officials to determine how long to extend the Public Health State of Emergency and Safer at Home declarations on the Oneida Nation Reservation.
