
The Navajo Nation began a three-week “stay-at-home lockdown” period on Monday in response to a surge in coronavirus cases,
Residents are allowed to leave their homes only for emergencies and “essential activities” like shopping for groceries or working at an essential business. Those businesses must close each day at 3 p.m.
“We have a three-week lockdown in place now to help isolate those individuals who are positive for COVID-19,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said in a statement. “When we isolate people, we isolate the virus.”
The Navajo Nation -- which is located within parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah -- announced 197 new Covid-19 cases on Monday. That raises the tribe's total number of recorded infections to 13,596 since the pandemic began.
Last week, the Navajo Department of Health identified 34 communities with “uncontrolled spread.” Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that across the US, Native Americans infected with Covid-19 are about 4.1 times more likely to be hospitalized than non-Hispanic White people.
Read more about the Covid-19 hospitalizations here: