WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – The Navajo Nation on Wednesday reported nine new confirmed COVID-19 cases and two more deaths.
Tribal health officials said the latest figures pushed the total number of cases since the pandemic began more than a year ago to 30,747 on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
The known death toll is now 1,297.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said more than half of the reservation’s adult population has been vaccinated.
“We are seeing consistently low numbers of new COVID-19 infections. But the Navajo Department of Health has noted that if you look at the overall number of cases over the last seven days, we’ve had 71 new cases reported,” Nez said in a statement Wednesday. “I point this out to remind our Navajo people that we are not out of this pandemic.
“Yes, we are seeing good improvements and progress is being made, but there remains risk of the virus in our communities which includes the variants that have been identified here on the Navajo Nation,” he said. “Our best weapons to push back on COVID-19 are the vaccines and wearing a mask in public.”
