Health officials are reporting 78 new cases of coronavirus on the Navajo Nation along with three more deaths.
The Navajo Department of Health said Thursday that the tribe now has 1,360 positive COVID-19 cases and 52 known deaths.
Of those who have tested positive, health officials say 718 are woman and 642 are men with an average age of 48.
Arizona’s Navajo County has 350 of the coronavirus cases with New Mexico’s McKinley County having 296 cases.
Those figures don’t include cases in towns that border the vast reservation and previously were included in the total for the Navajo Nation, which covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The tribe is extending the closure of the tribal government until mid-May because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Tribal officials have also instituted daily nighttime curfews and weekend lockdowns to keep people from traveling on the reservation and mandated that all individuals on the Navajo Nation must wear face masks.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Lizer led a distribution Thursday of care packages, food supplies and fire wood to some 250 tribal members who live in the remote area of Jeddito, Arizona.
Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
