Navajo Nation sets curfew, urging Navajo people to stay home as COVID-19 cases pass 100

Navajo Nation officials set a curfew for residents as the number of identified positive COVID-19 cases in the Navajo Nation rose to 128 with two confirmed deaths on Sunday. The curfew goes into effect Monday.

"It is time to have a curfew," Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said during a town hall meeting streamed live on Facebook. "We need to slow down people traveling around our nation."

The curfew will be from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting March 30. No details on penalties related to violating curfew have been provided. The curfew excludes essential employees traveling to and from work but they must have documentation.

Nez said he is still seeing high numbers of people traveling across the Navajo Nation, and he is asking people to think of their grandparents and people with health conditions because they are the most vulnerable.

"Don't be selfish," he said. "We need your help. The government can only do so much."

Navajo Nation's health care system already overwhelmed

The 128 cases include the following counties in three states: 59 in Navajo County, 17 in Apache County and 23 in Coconino County in Arizona; 15 in San Juan County, eight in McKinley County and one in Cibola County in New Mexico; and five in San Juan County in Utah.

The need for personnel, protective wear, hospital beds and other crucial resources and supplies at all health care facilities on the Navajo Nation continues to increase.

“We’ve reached a point where our medical facilities and health care workers are in dire need of more personal protective equipment, hospital beds, and other critical resources,” Nez said.

The Navajo Nation health care system cannot withstand or take care of the high number of people coming in sick, Nez said.

"Our nurses, doctors and health care professionals are pleading with all of us to stay home and isolate," he added.

All gatherings of more than 10 people have been suspended, according to the public health order, and Nez is asking all churches and ceremonial practices to abide.

"Now is not the time. I know there is a separation of church and state, but we're trying to lessen the spread of this virus," Nez said.

He said individuals still holding these types of mass gatherings may be held liable if someone who attends becomes sick.

Cases expected to peak in mid-May

Nez said that the start of the spread within the Navajo Nation started in Chilchinbeto, but he wants to remind people that this virus came from off the Navajo Nation.

"It did not originate in Chilchinbeto," he added. "We pushed really hard to keep the bug out of the Navajo Nation."

The number of positive cases will continue to rise in the Navajo Nation, and the peak will probably come mid-May, according to Nez.

"We have yet to even start going up on this curve," Nez said. "We want to be able to flatten this curve."

Nez said they are making plans to utilize facilities across the Navajo Nation to take in Navajo residents who are sick. This will help isolate them to recover before sending them home.

"The Navajo Nation is number one among all tribal nations (for positive cases)," said Dr. Jill Jim, executive director for the Navajo Nation Department of Health. The Navajo Nation is the second most populous Native American tribe in the country, following the Cherokee Nation.

A “stay at home" order is still in effect, which requires all residents of the Navajo Nation to remain home and closes all non-essential businesses. The tribal government, tourist locations, tribal parks and schools across the Navajo Nation are still closed.

Billboards are being put up across the Navajo Nation advertising the "stay at home" order as well as social distancing.

Navajo Nation president: We're going to be stricter

With the number of positive COVID-19 cases on the Navajo Nation having passed 100, Nez said they will be reevaluating executive orders issued in the past weeks and make adjustments where needed.

"We are going to begin to be more strict in these coming days," he said. "We ask for your patience."

The Navajo Nation is now accepting donations from outside entities. Nez said that all donations must go through the Navajo Health Command Operations Center.

They don't want groups handing out items among the Navajo people without going through the command center first.

Nez said that is because the command officials have been trained to properly handle goods so they are not spreading the virus.

The Navajo Nation launched a website that made reports, prevention tips and other resources about COVID-19 available to the public. The website is www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. The prevention information is available in both the English and Navajo languages.

The Navajo Health Command Operations Center can be reached at (928) 871-7014.

Residents of the Navajo Nation can sign up for emergency text alerts by texting "NavajoNation" to 888777 or at www.alertnn.com.

Reporter Shondiin Silversmith covers Indigenous people and communities in Arizona. Reach her at ssilversmi@arizonarepublic.com and follow her Twitter @DiinSilversmith.

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