MISSION — The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Board of Trustees passed a resolution declaring an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency on the reservation.

According to a CTUIR press release, the emergency expired at 4 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 15. The main result of the move is the tribes will dissolve its incident command team and lift capacity limits on social gatherings and tribal facilities.

The press release stated the emergency was declared on Sept. 24, the day after Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center documented 26 new cases, the largest one-day total since the pandemic began. On Sept. 28, Yellowhawk recorded 98 active cases, another record for the tribes.

Yellowhawk got support from the Oregon Health Authority and the board of trustees to increase testing, and the tribes soon saw a significant decrease in new cases. On Oct. 14, Yellowhawk reported only one new case while active cases are down to 26.

Restrictions now are lifted on social gatherings and tribal enterprises, such as the Wildhorse Resort & Casino and Cayuse Holdings, can issue their own safety standards. The board did retain its mask mandate, which applies to all public indoor facilities on the reservation.