The human toll: A lab and a lamprey freezer bolster coronavirus response on the Umatilla reservation
MISSION â A pickup truck rolled into the parking lot behind the Yellowhawk Tribal Health Center on the Umatilla Indian Reservation on a recent Monday afternoon. Nurse Rena Wickert grabbed a clipboard and three swabs to test each of the people in the vehicle for the coronavirus. After Wickert swabbed six nostrils, the truckâs driver waved goodbye and Wickert buzzed back into the clinic. Another nurse collected the swabs and walked them about 10 paces down the hall to the lab, which would kick out test results from a boxy, electronic device. It takes 15 minutes for a result to come ba...