WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation has continued on a downward trend in the number of daily coronavirus cases.
Tribal health officials on Friday reported 23 new cases of COVID-19, down significantly from around the holidays. The latest numbers bring the total to 29,710 cases since the pandemic began.
Four additional deaths were reported Friday, bringing the total to 1,165.
Health facilities on the reservation and in border towns are conducting drive-thru vaccine events or administering doses by appointment. The Navajo-area Indian Health Service has vaccinated more than 100,000 people so far, the agency said.
Dr. Loretta Christensen, the chief medical officer for the Navajo area, said officials are gathering more information about who hasn’t been reached through an extensive campaign that included social media, radio broadcasts in Navajo and English, home visits and phone calls.
“We have established a unified goal of getting to a point of immunity for our people,” she said in a call with reporters this week. “The way you set that up is really critical to be successful with that vaccine acceptance. We feel very fortunate that our population stepped up.”
A daily curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. and a mask mandate remain in effect for residents of the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to prevent the spread of the virus.
More than 16,050 people have recovered from COVID-19, tribal health officials said.
