The Navajo Nation

Office of the President and Vice President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 3, 2020

236 new cases, 9,569 recoveries, and five more deaths related to COVID-19

WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. – On Thursday, the Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 236 new COVID-19 positive cases for the Navajo Nation and five more deaths. The total number of deaths is now 663 as of Thursday. Reports indicate that 9,569 individuals have recovered from COVID-19, and 168,261 COVID-19 tests have been administered. The total number of positive COVID-19 cases is now 17,310, including 39 delayed reported cases.

Navajo Nation COVID-19 positive cases by Service Unit:

• Chinle Service Unit: 3,509
• Crownpoint Service Unit: 1,884
• Ft. Defiance Service Unit: 1,794
• Gallup Service Unit: 2,828
• Kayenta Service Unit: 1,782
• Shiprock Service Unit: 2,716
• Tuba City Service Unit: 1,752
• Winslow Service Unit: 1,024

* 21 residences with COVID-19 positive cases are not specific enough to place them accurately in a Service Unit.

On Thursday, the state of New Mexico reported 1,908 new cases of COVID-19, the state of Utah reported 3,945 cases, and Arizona reported 5,442.

“We are in a major health care crisis right now. Our health care providers and medical personnel have reported that due to the significant rise in COVID-19 cases over the last several weeks, our health care system is in crisis mode now. Shortage of hospital beds, oxygen supplies, medical personnel, and increasing wait times to transfer severe COVID-19 patients are just some of the major problems that hospital facilities are now experiencing. Our health care experts and leaders can plead with the public over and over, but we need your help to share information with your family members and tell them to stay home and not travel. According to projections, this current wave of new cases is four or five times greater than the wave that we had in April and May. We have to dramatically change our daily activities in order to stay home more often. This is a dire and serious matter, but each of us has the power to make a difference simply by staying home as much as possible,” said Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez.

On Thursday, the Nez-Lizer Administration held a virtual forum in which several Navajo Area IHS medical and health care providers stated that the Navajo Nation is now in a major health care crisis and pleaded with the public to stay home and take precautions to help reduce the overwhelming surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. The entire forum is available online at: https://youtu.be/yfOg3RANG-A.

The Navajo Nation’s three-week stay-at-home lockdown is in effect 24-hours a day, seven days a week with the exception of essential workers, cases of emergencies, and to purchase essential items such as food and medication when essential businesses are open from 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily. A new public health order will be issued soon to extend the stay-at-home lockdown and to reimplement the 57-hour weekend lockdowns.

“We have to take this virus seriously and do everything we can to protect ourselves and our loved ones. We have to continue to pray, but also meet our prayers half way by making good decisions by staying home as much as possible. Please do your best to inform your elders in a safe way, by phone if possible. I also want to thank all of our health care workers who are fighting for us,” said Vice President Myron Lizer.

For more information, including helpful prevention tips, and resources to help stop the spread of COVID-19, visit the Navajo Department of Health’s COVID-19 website: http://www.ndoh.navajo-nsn.gov/COVID-19. For COVID-19 related questions and information, call (928) 871-7014.