Navajo Nation reports 7 more COVID-19 cases and 1 more death

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Korene Atene, a certified nursing assistant with the Monument Valley Health Center, gets information from people lined up to get tested for COVID-19 outside of the center in Oljato-Monument Valley, San Juan County, on Thursday, April 16, 2020. The Navajo Nation had one of the highest per capita COVID-19 infection rates in the country. (Kristin Murphy/The Deseret News via AP)

Navajo Nation health officials have reported seven more cases of COVID-19 and one additional death.

That brings the total number of people infected to 9,315 and the known death toll to 473 as of Monday night.

Navajo Department of Health officials said 85,772 people have been tested for the coronavirus and 6,878 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 changed its 57-hour weekend lockdown to a 32-hour one that began at 9 p.m. Saturday and ended at 5 a.m. Monday.

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.