The Navajo Nation announced new restrictions on residents as cases of the coronavirus continue to spike in the Southwestern territory.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said a new daily curfew will begin on Friday following a recent surge in coronavirus infections that brought the total number of infected residents on the land to more than 10,000 since the pandemic began.
“It will help keep the number of flu cases relatively low as well. We have to keep fighting COVID-19 together, and that will help us during the flu season as well. We will be much better prepared,” Nez said.
The enactment of Public Health Emergency Order No. 2020-24 instructs people to remain indoors and not to travel between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. on weekdays. Officials are also installing a 57-hour curfew for the first two weekends of October in a bid to slow the spread of the virus.
More than 500 Navajo Nation residents have died from the disease this year, and data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that Native Americans are almost three times more likely to die from the coronavirus than their white counterparts, suggesting a need for extra measures.
In a Tuesday press release from the Navajo Nation Department of Health, officials said the failure of some residents to adopt safety protocols along with travel to and from the area had contributed to the spike in cases.
“It only took a few people traveling off our Nation to have wide spread increases in cluster cases in several regions of the Navajo Nation,” the release read. “The only way we are going to reduce the spread of the virus is by adhering to the recommendations and public health emergency orders issued by our public health experts.”
Officials with the Navajo Nation said that residents with permits will still be allowed to collect and haul wood ahead of the winter season.
