The Navajo Nation 

Office of the President and Vice President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 15, 2020

83 new cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths reported

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. — The total number of positive tests for COVID-19 has reached 921 for the Navajo Nation as of Wednesday – an increase of 83 positive cases since Tuesday, according to the Navajo Department of Health and Navajo Area Indian Health Service, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center. The report also includes 3,239 total negative test results as of Wednesday. There is now a total of 38 confirmed deaths related to COVID-19. 

The 921 confirmed positive cases include the following counties:

• Navajo County, AZ: 288
• Apache County, AZ: 121
• Coconino County, AZ: 189
• McKinley County, NM: 170
• San Juan County, NM: 119
• Cibola County, NM: 12
• San Juan County, UT: 11
• Socorro County, NM: 7
• Sandoval County, NM: 4

“We truly thank many of those who are abiding by the stay-at-home order and the daily curfew, but it’s very disheartening to receive reports of many people going out into the public today and traveling to border towns – most due to the federal stimulus funds that our people are beginning to receive. We are close to finalizing another public health order to implement 57-hour curfew for the remaining weekends for the month of April,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez. 

During a live Facebook update on Wednesday, President Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer urged members of the Navajo Nation to be prudent with their stimulus funds and to save as much as possible due to the uncertainties of the ongoing pandemic.

“We don’t all have to rush out and go shopping because we have some extra funds. Let’s be smart and plan financially for our families and let’s continue to use extreme caution so we don’t spread the virus especially among our elders. 38 people is a scary number – all of our people need to do a better job and stop traveling unless it’s absolutely necessary,” said Vice President Lizer.

The Navajo Nation’s daily curfew remains in effect from 8:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. and Navajo Police continue to issue citations for curfew violators. President Nez and Vice President Lizer will host another online Town Hall to share COVID-19 updates beginning at 10:00 a.m. (MDT) on Thursday on the Nez-Lizer Facebook page. 

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.