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Navajo Nation Remains Cautious About Reopening

Even though the number of new  coronavirus cases continues to decline on the Navajo Nation, its president has decided it’s too soon to reopen.

On a recent Facebook live town hall, Navajo President Jonathan Nez pointed to a map of the U.S that showed the Navajo Nation in yellow and the surrounding states in red.

“We’re monitoring these states all around us,” Nez said. “Now is not the time to come home if you are in these red states. We can’t let down, we gotta keep doing what we’re doing.”

That means at least two more weekend curfews. Nez said he’s concerned about tribal members  traveling off the reservation for water. Because of the drought, water on the reservation is often scarce.

He challenged Navajos to get the number of new cases below 50 a day for two weeks. Then he said they can begin to gradually reopen tribal parks and lakes.

→  Read The Latest News On The Coronavirus Disease 

Laurel Morales was a Fronteras Desk senior field correspondent in Flagstaff from 2011 to 2020.