By L. Parsons The Navajo Nation has risen to become the third highest novel coronavirus affected area in the country, behind New York and New Jersey, per capita. The Navajo Nation is located on nearly 28,000 square miles of land in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. According to Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez, of the nearly 200,000 residents of the nation, 2,141 confirmed cases have been reported. Seventy-one people have lost their lives to the virus. Navajo County currently has 502 of those confirmed cases. The first confirmed case on the Navajo Nation was on March 17. Nez stated, “This case originated from the Kayenta Health Care facility and the community of Chilchinbito. The two people that have been confirmed have a history of travel off of Navajo, so we want to tell our people to stay close to home. Do not have gatherings of more than 10 people and listen to our health care professionals.” It is widely accepted that the first cases on the nation can be traced back to a March 7 gathering at the Church of the Nazerene in Chilchinbito. The Navajo Nation faces many infrastructure issues that may have contributed to the virus being so widespread. According to Navajo Nation Vice President Myron Lizer, 36 percent of homes on the nation do not have adequate running water. Grocery stores and other supply carriers are spread out over the vast amount of land, forcing Navajo Nation residents to visit border towns such as Winslow and Gallup to replenish basic needs. The timeline for mitigation of this pandemic has been discussed by Nez. In a press conference held March 13, he outlined what had already been done and mentioned that the efforts of tribal leadership had begun in late January. Beginning Jan. 22, Nez has been in contact with the many Indian Health Services facilities in and around the Navajo Nation. A command center was set up by the Navajo Nation Department of Health Services on Feb. 25 and by March 4, a travel advisory had been put in place for Navajo Nation executives. Beginning on March 5, and continuing daily or weekly, Nez has presented information to the Nation through Facebook and radio announcements. These announcements have, since the start, been informing and educating Navajo Nation residents on the values of handwashing and social distancing. They now include updates on numbers of confirmed cases, deaths and tests performed throughout the Nation. It is noteworthy that Nez was proactive in his mitigation efforts, explaining that, “We wanted to be ready for whatever might happen. We even had our team members going door-to-door to inform our elderly starting on March 9.” Since the outbreak, Nez has continued to attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19 amongst the citizens of the Navajo Nation. Following the initial cases, Nez issued orders limiting non-essential travel and banning travel from outside of Navajo lands. By March 29, he had implemented a daily curfew from 8 p.m. until 5 a.m. as the confirmed cases jumped to 115. The nation now has a 57-hour weekend curfew in place and is enforcing the stay at home orders with fines and possible jail time. To assist border town and reservation health care facilities, several alternative care sites have been built. Nez said, “With the help of the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and the Arizona National Guard, as well as our Navajo people, we have been able to build a few 50 bed facilities. The one in Chinle is located in the Chinle High School gymnasium and will be open this weekend. It has oxygen and power outlets in all of these 8’ by 8’ rooms. We will put positive COVID cases here. This will help us save as many lives as possible, as well as increase the hope of our people.” The Navajo Nation continues to experience a high rate of contraction of COVID-19. Many of the people are considered high risk for the virus due to underlying health issues or age. Because of that, leadership has implored the people to shelter in place. To assist in getting supplies to some remote areas and those at high risk, many have reached out. Former Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch has organized a fundraiser through the Go Fund Me organization called “Navajo Hopi Families COVID Relief Fund.” Over $1 million has been raised to help distribute food, water, firewood, livestock food and other basic necessities to indigenous people on the Navajo and Hopi reservations. Hollywood personalities such as Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd and Jason Momoa have also reached out to the Navajo people by sending aid in the form of water and monetary donations. The tribe itself, said Nez, “Has put forth $4.4 million. We have received some donations from APS (Arizona Public Service) and SRP (Salt River Project) of about $250,000 and the University of Arizona has donated testing kits.” However, according to Nez, relief funding from the federal government has not been as easy to obtain. On April 23, the Navajo Nation along with 10 other Native American tribes throughout the United States sued the US Secretary of the Treasury over distribution of federal aid. The $8 billion Nez explained in a press release, “Had been distributed mostly to Alaska Native Corporations, which is a for-profit business, not a federally recognized tribe.” On April 27, it was announced that the U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled in favor of the tribes. Nez said, “Federally recognized tribes stood together to oppose the actions of the Department of the Treasury in another attempt to undermine the first citizens of this country, but our voices were heard and the indigenous people prevailed today.” Later that week, Nez was distributing water and supplies at various chapter houses throughout Navajo Nation. He said, “You may ask why we are doing this now and the answer is because we are finally getting resources to help.” Testing continues throughout the Navajo Nation, as well as weekend curfews. The numbers are still rising as well. More than 22 Navajo Nation Police officers have tested positive for the virus and on April 30, it was announced that former officer Corinna Thinn had lost her battle with COVID-19. Officer Thinn was escorted to her home in Tuba City by Navajo Nation police and officials. As the first of the month approached, Nez reminded his people, “Stay home, stay on Navajo.” He hosted a live Facebook update from a supply distribution site in Tees Toh, here in Navajo County on May 1. “Thank you for all of your donations, a lot of that money is going in to purchasing personal protective equipment for our health care workers. About $500,000 of the money we have raised through our official fundraisers will be set aside for burial costs. Yesterday, we learned over 12,000 of our Navajo people have been tested. We have heard stories of recovery and we are still announcing that 71 of our families have been directly impacted by death from this virus. Let’s honor their memory by staying home and doing everything we can to hold our citizens accountable.”
