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Navajo Nation residents to be under strictest lockdown yet

Vital resources being distributed to the Navajo Nation
Posted at 2:54 PM, May 15, 2020
and last updated 2020-05-15 17:54:44-04

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Residents of the Navajo Nation will be under the strictest weekend lockdown yet.

Grocery stores, gas stations and other businesses will be closed starting Friday night.

Essential workers also are being told to stay home until Monday around dawn.

A frustrated Navajo Nation president made the announcement after a spike in deaths that he attributed to shifting traffic patterns in New Mexico.

As of Thursday, the tribe reported 127 deaths and 3,632 positive cases since it first began tracking the figures.

Tribal officials say more than 500 people have recovered.

The Navajo Nation has been hit harder by the coronavirus than any other Native American reservation.