FORT BELKNAP, Mont. (NMB) – The Fort Belknap Tribal Council has extended the Reservation-wide shutdown through Sunday, January 30th.
The Tribal Council stated in their resolution extending the shutdown that this is due to the extremely severe health risks of the spike in cases of COVID-19 and its variants. The Resolution says the latest surge has the potential to overwhelm the local health care system.
Only essential businesses will be allowed to stay open, and with restricted hours.
The Tribal Council says they are strongly urging Reservation residents to encourage family members who live off-reservation to stay at home and not travel to Fort Belknap until the pandemic is under control.
The shutdown initially went into effect on January 19th and was set to expire Thursday morning. It includes a nightly curfew at 9 PM.
As of Monday evening, there were 124 known active cases of COVID on the Reservation, with transmission labeled “extremely high.”
