Navajo Nation reports 19 more COVID-19 cases, but no deaths

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File - In this Jan. 15, 2019, file photo, from left, Dottie Lizer, Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, first lady Phefelia Herbert Nez and Navajo President Jonathan Nez sit onstage during the tribal inauguration in Fort Defiance, Ariz. (AP Photo/Felicia Fonseca, File)

Navajo Nation health officials have reported 19 more cases of COVID-19 but no additional deaths.

That brings the total number of people infected to 9,334 and the known death toll remaining at 473 as of Tuesday.

Navajo Department of Health officials said 86,258 people have been tested for the coronavirus and 6,893 have recovered.

Tribal President Jonathan Nez pointed to the latest coronavirus figures as evidence that most Navajo Nation residents are complying with lockdown orders and the advice of medical experts. The tribe has a work group determining a plan to gradually reopen the reservation.

The Navajo Nation recently changed its 57-hour weekend lockdown to a 32-hour one.

Tribal officials said the daily curfew also will be changed to those same hours on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The majority of people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 recover.

For some people it causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

But for others who contract the virus, especially those who are older or have underlying health conditions, it can cause more severe illness and death.

Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.