Navajo Nation enacts curfew to combat COVID-19 spread

Starting Monday night, a curfew will go into effect on the Navajo Nation. So far they have seen 128 cases and two deaths from COVID-19. Leaders there are attempting to do what we’re seeing around the country, try and convince the community to stay home so they can slow the spread of COVID-19.

Starting Monday night, a curfew will go into effect on the Navajo Nation.

So far they have seen 128 cases and two deaths from COVID-19. Leaders there are attempting to do what we’re seeing around the country, try and convince the community to stay home so they can slow the spread of COVID-19.

The state deployed national guard personnel to Tuba City to help staff at Tuba City Regional Healthcare. That included two black hawk helicopters and personnel to set up a 50-bed field hospital.

Navajo Nation President Johnathan Nez also implemented a curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. along with the stay at home order they put into place last week.

“Others don’t have the luxury of having running water at their homes. So they haul water not just for themselves but also for their livestock, so in order to keep our hands clean and wash them, we do need water. So what we’re doing now is working with communities and working in water delivery," Nez said.

He also said they want to discourage tourists from going through the area. While parks remain open, Nez said the next step he’d like to see is to close the Grand Canyon.

He says far too many people are still going and stopping on Navajo Nation land, putting themselves and others at risk.