Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez “Optimistic” With COVID Numbers Declining On The Reservation

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez was optimistic regarding COVID-19 numbers on the reservation during his virtual update Tuesday morning. He says even though the 14-day trend of new cases is going down, he reminds everyone the pandemic is far from over. “We’re not out of this pandemic yet,” Nez says. He adds: “yes there’s hope because of the vaccine, but we still need to wear a mask, social distance and wash our hands.” He says they will be watching to see if there is an increase in cases over the next couple of weeks due to the three-day Martin Luther King Junior holiday weekend. On Tuesday, officials say there were 45 new reported cases and no new deaths. The number of positive cases since the beginning is 26,517 with 13,566 recoveries and 919 total deaths. Even with the trend heading down, tribal health officials say there is still uncontrolled spread in 75 communities on the Navajo Nation.