Health Services director expects more COVID-19 cases in Akwesasne

By Andy Gardner

Although there has been one COVID-19 case on the south side of Akwesasne, St. Regis Mohawk Tribe Health Services Director Michael Cook expects that to go up. He says the community can best protect themselves by staying home.

“The reality is the numbers are going to increase. We hope we’re not inundated like downstate but we don’t know,” Cook said.

Akwesasne’s first case of the respiratory infection caused by the novel coronavirus was reported over the weekend of March 28-29. Cook believes there could be more that haven’t been diagnosed.

Numbers have been on the rise in neighboring communities. St. Lawrence County reported its first case around March 25. Less than a week later, they had more than 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Five of them were SUNY Potsdam students who tested positive after returning to campus from high-risk areas and have been placed in isolation.

“The literature and the statistics tells us that there are and we just have to practice you assume you’re potentially contagious. Practicing the physical spacing, staying at home is all we can do to defend ourselves,” he said.

He said people should assume they are contagious because a huge number of carriers “don’t know [they] have the virus, [they’re] not symptomatic. You could be carrying the virus and not be symptomatic.”

Physical spacing means avoiding public places unless absolutely necessary, such as for food, medicine or employment. People who must go into public for these things should stay at least six feet apart.

One of the most worrying things for local hospitals is the time COVID-19 patients need on a ventilator. Speaking at a March 26 press conference, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said COVID patients may need up to three weeks, where the average non-COVID patient needs just several days.

“That’s what we’re dealing with, the high number of COVID patients and the long period of time they’re on a ventilator,” Cuomo said at the press conference.

Cook said he has heard accusations that he is suppressing information on coronavirus cases in Akwesasne. He denies it and said the way the cases are tested makes it not possible for him to withhold.

“We don’t test here. The tests are done by our hospitals,” he said. The results are given to public health departments in either St. Lawrence County or Franklin County. Those officials then report positives to the Akwesasne Emergency Operations Center, which disseminates it to the public.

“As with the case this weekend, it was immediately announced to the community. There’s 100% transparency and nothing is being withheld,” Cook said.