Nation sees spike in COVID cases
WINDOW ROCK
The Navajo Nation is seeing new coronavirus case levels not seen since June, peaking at 130 last Thursday.
Cases are mostly in the Tuba City, Winslow, Chinle and Crownpoint communities. Contact tracing this many cases will be difficult because they don’t have the capacity, said Jill Jim, director of Navajo Department of Health.
“Four of the service units across the Navajo Nation are definitely experiencing high counts right now,” said Jim.
The Navajo Nation’s highest number of positive tests in one day was 240 on May 14. From then the number declined fairly steadily until Sept. 8, when no new cases were recorded for several days. In the last several weeks, cases in both the Navajo Nation and surrounding states have climbed precipitously, possibly because of a cold snap that forced people indoors.
President Jonathan Nez has reinstituted nightly and weekend lockdowns to keep people from visiting each other and spreading the virus. Navajo Nation leadership continues to tell citizens to wear masks, stay home and wash their hands.
New cases have declined slightly on the Nation since last Thursday. Sunday’s figure was 73.
So far deaths from the virus have remained low, between zero and three a day, in spite of the spike.
“An enormous increase (in cases) in the Navajo Nation,” said President Jonathan Nez in his virtual town hall. “We need to really hunker down on Navajo and wear masks.”
Nez said contact tracers have found that family gatherings with relatives living off the Navajo Nation are responsible for the recent uptick.
“Its getting out of control,” said Nez. “We need to keep everyone isolated so it doesn’t spread.”
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Highway 264,
I-40, WB @ Winslow