Pandemic Hits Native Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic underscores the existing vulnerabilities of tribal communities across the US, several of which have been hit by the virus.

Diabetes and heart disease put elders at a heightened risk of COVID-19. Access to clean water for hand-washing is not a given on reservations.

Casinos—a core source of income—are shuttered.
 
The federal government is obliged to provide health care to Native peoples. But while tens of millions of dollars in federal funding was allocated to tribal organizations to fight the pandemic, as of March 21, 98% percent of tribal clinics hadn’t received those funds.

Vox