{"id":65107,"date":"2020-03-31T02:44:17","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T02:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/navajo-nation-issues-curfew-as-virus-spreads\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T11:07:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T11:07:26","slug":"navajo-nation-issues-curfew-as-virus-spreads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/navajo-nation-issues-curfew-as-virus-spreads\/","title":{"rendered":"Navajo Nation issues curfew as virus spreads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Navajo
Navajo Nation leaders and first responders set up a checkpoint to pass out COVID-19 information March 24.<\/span>Courtesy of Navajo Nation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

FARMINGTON \u2013 The Navajo Nation issued a curfew effective Monday morning, as the number of COVID-19 cases jumped and there were two confirmed deaths Sunday.<\/p>\n

President Jonathan Nez and Vice President Myron Lizer issued the curfew order Sunday, citing the increase in cases and a lack of resources to fight the coronavirus on the reservation, which spans across three states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing our best to keep people safe, but the government can\u2019t do everything and that\u2019s why everyone needs to stay home as much as possible,\u201d Nez said in a news release. \u201cEvery person is responsible for taking precautions to preserve their own health. This curfew is an added measure to protect our Navajo people, especially our elderly and high-risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curfew \u2013 unique to the Navajo Nation and not seen in the surrounding states yet \u2013 requires everyone to stay home from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week and went into effect Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to slow down people traveling around our nation,\u201d Nez said in a town hall meeting streamed on Facebook.<\/p>\n

The order said it does not apply to essential employees reporting to work but does require they have \u201cofficial identification and\/or a letter of designation from their essential business employer on official letterhead, which includes a contact for verification.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curfew was announced as the number of positive cases reached 128 and concerns grew over a lack of health care resources.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have enough doctors, nurses, first responders, hospital beds, ventilators and other resources to treat everyone,\u201d Lizer said. \u201cWe have to do our part by preventing the spread of the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The Navajo Nation is putting up billboards to spread the stay-at-home message and other COVID-19 messaging.<\/span>Courtesy of Navajo Nation<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Like other communities, the Navajo Nation is seeing a sharp increase in the need for hospital beds, health care supplies and personal protective equipment like masks and gloves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve reached a point where our medical facilities and health care workers are in dire need of more personal protective equipment, hospital beds and other critical resources,\u201d Nez said.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Nation is expected to reach its peak of cases in mid-May, Nez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have yet to even start going up on this curve. We want to be able to flatten this curve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

In addition to the curfew, the order includes additional direction for businesses to limit person-to-person contact and physical interactions. All businesses, such as grocery stores, food banks, convenience stores and hardware stores, have to limit the number of customers to 10 and mandate customers keep a 6-foot distancing requirement.<\/p>\n

Restaurants are ordered to provide an outdoor order station, a way for people to call ahead to place orders and pickup options that allow customers to remain in their car. Banks can have only drive-thru services, and ATMs can operate only if they offer disinfectant wipes or spray for customers.<\/p>\n

Gas stations must have a fueling attendant to pump gas or provide disinfectant wipes or spray for customers to use. Post offices are given an exception and do not need to provide curbside or drive-thru options but must have disinfectant wipes and spray for customers.<\/p>\n

The addition of the curfew and more explicit business requirements come after Nez and Navajo Nation leaders previously issued a stay-at-home order, closed all schools, tribal parks and tourist attractions and asked visitors to respect its closed borders last week.<\/p>\n

The Navajo Nation \u2013 the second most populous tribe \u2013 is leading tribal nations in positive cases, according to the Navajo Nation Department of Health.<\/p>\n

The breakdown of the 128 cases on Navajo lands spanning the counties in three states is:<\/p>\n

Navajo County, Ariz.: 59<\/em>Apache County, Ariz.: 17<\/em>Coconino County, Ariz.: 23<\/em>McKinley County, N.M.: 8<\/em>San Juan County, N.M.: 15<\/em>Cibola County, N.M.: 1<\/em>San Juan County, Utah: 5<\/em><\/p>\n

lweber@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Navajo County, Ariz.: 59<\/em>Apache County, Ariz.: 17<\/em>Coconino County, Ariz.: 23<\/em>McKinley County, N.M.: 8<\/em>San Juan County, N.M.: 15<\/em>Cibola County, N.M.: 1<\/em>San Juan County, Utah: 5<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

128 positive cases recorded, two confirmed dead<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,28,1655,29,668,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-65107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-navajo-nation","tag-newsletter","tag-public-health","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65107"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65107\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89720,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65107\/revisions\/89720"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65107"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=65107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}