Navajo Nation reports 7 more COVID-19 deaths

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A sign reads "Navajo Monument Vally Tribal Park Closed Until Further Notice" posted at the entrance of Monument Valley in Oljato-Monument Valley, Utah, on the Navajo reservation Sunday, April 19, 2020. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Navajo Nation is reporting 151 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths from COVID-19.

The latest figures reported Tuesday by the Navajo Department of Health bring the total number of cases on the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to 21,327. The Navajo Nation has reported 755 deaths since the pandemic hit.

The Health Department says the first doses of the recently approved vaccine made by Moderna have arrived at the Navajo Area Indian Health Service.

The Navajo Nation is in a three-week lockdown requiring all residents to stay home except for emergencies, shopping for essentials like food and medicine, or traveling to an essential job.

“With the arrival of the first shipment of Moderna vaccines today, we have another weapon to help us fight COVID-19, but it will take time,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement. “Until the vaccine is widely available, we have to keep our guard up and not let down.”

Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.