COVID-19 Updates with Leah Lemm and Dr. Antony Stately

MDH is offering free at-home rapid COVID tests. The program – Say Yes! To Covid Test is online at sayyeshometest.org. Every household can place a new order every month until the program ends.

Your health insurance needs to be renewed periodically.  Avoid losing your Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare by being prepared for your renewal.  1 in 4 Minnesotans will need to renew their healthcare coverage soon.  Learn what it means for you or someone you know. To learn more, go to the Minnesota Department of Human Services website.

The CDC is recommending adults with underlying conditions, those over 60 and toddlers to receive the recently approved RSV vaccine. RSV is a respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms. Most people recover in a week or two, but it can be serious, especially for infants and older adults.

An updated COVID vaccine has become available as of a couple of weeks ago. The vaccine is recommended for individuals 5-years and older. There are also options for children between 6-months to 5-years old.

Minnesota residents who have symptoms of COVID-19 and have tested positive or have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 are eligible to receive treatment at no-cost. The Minnesota Department of Health in partnership with Cue Health run the Test to Treat program, which provides access to care and COVID19 medication. Health insurance is not required to receive treatment. To receive your treatment call 1-844-609-2415 to speak with a healthcare provider.

More from Native Lights

• 
  Alexandera Houchin: Life on Two Wheels
  Today, we’re very excited to Welcome Alexandera Houchin to the Native Lights podcast. Alexandera is a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe). She resides in her reservation community in northern Minnesota. She’s an ultra racer, bike packer, mountain biker, outdoor adventurer, storyteller, and writer. And she is currently working on her memoir for Penguin Random House and is the subject of a documentary.
• 
  Bradley Harrington: The United States 250th Anniversary from an Anishinaabe Perspective
  On this episode Leah and Cole speak with Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe citizen Bradley Harrington who recently penned an article in the Mille Lacs Band newspaper, Ojibwe Inaajimowin, about 250 years of US occupation as the country marks the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
• 
  Dr. Samantha Majhor: The Story Collector
  Today, we’re excited to welcome Dr. Samantha Majhor to Native Lights. Samantha is a direct descendant of Fort Peck. She’s Dakota and Assiniboine and is an assistant professor in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She focuses on Native American literature, particularly literature by Dakota and Ojibwe writers around the Great Lakes region.

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• The Bush Foundation Funds Ojibwe Language Preservation, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Invests in Grand Victoria Development
  A grant is helping revitalize the Ojibwe language and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is part of a new development in St. Paul.
• MNN Extended Interview: Bazile Minogiizhigabo Panek
  This week, we revisit Producer Emma Needham’s interview with Bazile Panek to learn more about his relationship to fire and what he thinks are the causes behind Minnesota’s increasing risk for devastating wildfires.