VIEW LARGER Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez speaks to law students in Tucson, Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019. The Navajo president and vice president have quarantined themselves after learning they came in contact with a first responder who tested positive for COVID-19. As of Thursday, there were 558 Navajos with the coronavirus and 22 had died from the disease.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez told a town hall on Facebook Live that he and the vice president met with the Arizona National Guard, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and first responders, and somebody later tested positive for COVID-19.
“It was a first responder protecting you,” Nez said. “It’s real. It is frustrating to see people driving around. Let’s stop the spread!”
Nez said he was wearing a mask and gloves and he’s feeling fine but is following protocol. The tribe has ordered its members to stay home for a 57-hour curfew beginning Friday night.
The tribe lacks the health care workers, beds and equipment necessary to fight the spread of the virus. So hundreds have been helicoptered to hospitals in towns bordering the reservation.
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