The Muscogee (Creek) Nation will lift the state of emergency they declared last year at the start of the pandemic. But even without the order, some safety measures will remain in place.At the start of the pandemic, Muscogee (Creek) Nation shut down community centers, closed tribal government offices, moved meetings online and canceled the annual Creek Nation Festival in Okmulgee.
Beginning April 1, community centers will begin to reopen at reduced capacity for social distancing. Officials within the tribal nation are also considering holding a scaled back version of the annual Creek Nation Festival.
Mask mandates at government offices will continue and protective equipment and supplies like hand sanitizer must also be made available to employees.
Jason Salsman, Muscogee (Creek) Nation's press secretary, said this is part of trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy while protecting people.
"This is a really big deal for the community. This is where they have their bake sales, community meetings, things like that," said Salsman.
Salsman said the decision to dial back on the state of emergency was based on the daily falling rates of COVID-19 infection and the increased vaccination rates.
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