Tuesday Navajo Nation COVID-19 Update: 43 New Cases and One More Death

Published June 23, 2020

Daily curfew and requirement to wear face mask remains in effect

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — On Tuesday, the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 43 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and one new death. The total number of deaths is 336 as of Tuesday. Reports from 11 health care facilities on and near the Navajo Nation indicate that approximately 3,754 individuals recovered from COVID-19, with one health care facility report still pending. 50,185 people have been tested for COVID-19. The total number of COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation is 7,088.

Navajo Nation COVID-19 positive cases by Service Unit:

• Chinle Service Unit: 1,841
• Crownpoint Service Unit: 648
• Ft. Defiance Service Unit: 425
• Gallup Service Unit: 1,211
• Kayenta Service Unit: 1,013
• Shiprock Service Unit: 1,148
• Tuba City Service Unit: 588
• Winslow Service Unit: 206

* Eight residences with COVID-19 positive cases are not specific enough to place them accurately in a Service Unit.

The Navajo Nation’s public health emergency orders, including requiring the use of protective masks in public and the daily curfews from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., are still in effect throughout the Navajo Nation. Navajo police continue to enforce the daily curfew and may issue a citation to curfew violators.

“COVID-19 is a serious respiratory disease that can result in serious illness or death, and the Nation cannot take any chances. The virus can spread from person to person through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person talks, coughs, or sneezes. To protect yourself and others, wear a face-covering in public and when you are sick. The number of positive cases is decreasing, and there are more recoveries each day, and it gives us hope that we are doing the right thing by staying home, washing our hands, and wearing a face mask. We can beat this virus,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said on Tuesday.

President Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer also advise citizens to use hand sanitizers safely. When using hand sanitizer, apply the product to the palm of one hand and rub it all over the surfaces of your hands until hands are dry. Only use hand sanitizer on your hands. Swallowing alcohol-based hand sanitizers can cause alcohol poisoning. Hand sanitizer should be stored out of reach of children and should be used with adult supervision. Do not use hand sanitizers that contain methanol. Substantial methanol exposure can result in nausea, vomiting, headache, blurred vision, permanent blindness, seizures, coma, permanent damage to the nervous system, or death.

For more information, including helpful prevention tips, and resources to help stop the spread of COVID-19, visit the Navajo Department of Health’s COVID-19 website at http://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. For COVID-19 related questions and information, call (928) 871-7014.

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To Donate to the Navajo Nation

The official webpage for donations to the Navajo Nation, which has further details on how to support  the Nation’s Dikos Ntsaaígíí-19 (COVID-19) efforts is:  http://www.nndoh.org/donate.html.

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For More Information

For more information including reports, helpful prevention tips, and more resources, please visit the Navajo Department of Health’s COVID-19 website at http://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. To contact the main Navajo Health Command Operations Center, please call (928) 871-7014.

For up to date information on impact the coronavirus pandemic is having in the United States and around the world go to: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/?fbclid=IwAR1vxfcHfMBnmTFm6hBICQcdbV5aRnMimeP3hVYHdlxJtFWdKF80VV8iHgE

For up-to-date information about COVID-19, Native News Online encourages you to go to Indian Health Service’s COVID-19 webpage and review CDC’s COVID-19 webpage.