Northern Minnesota tribal leader asks non-residents to “please stay home”

CASS LAKE, Minn. (AP) – The Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe is asking nonresidents to avoid traveling to or through the Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Leech Lake Chairman Faron Jackson says the band is “taking every precaution to ensure that the health and well-being of our communities is protected.”

Jackson asks anyone who lives more than a county away from the reservation’s boundaries to “please stay home.”

The reservation is near the headwaters of the Mississippi River and shares territory with Chippewa National Forest.

In a statement, the Leech Lake band points out that American Indians have higher incidences of underlying medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and respiratory illnesses that make individuals vulnerable to the coronavirus.