WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. (AP) - The Navajo Nation has reported 272 new coronavirus cases and seven more deaths.
The latest figures announced Thursday by the Navajo Department of Health bring the total number of cases on the reservation that extends into Arizona, New Mexico and Utah to 21,833. The death toll from the pandemic now stands at 762.
According to the tribe, 11,316 people have recovered from COVID-19.
The Navajo Nation remains in a three-week lockdown requiring all residents to stay home except for emergencies, shopping for essentials like food and medicine or traveling to an essential job.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez says residents must not become complacent just because frontline health care workers on the reservation have started receiving recently approved vaccines.
He implored people to not gather over the holidays with anyone outside their own household.
Nez also issued an executive order Thursday limiting tribal government services due to the surge in virus cases until Jan. 10.
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