APACHE COUNTY, Ariz. (AP)-Arizona’s Apache County has now surpasses neighboring McKinley County in New Mexico as having the most COIVD-19 cases on the Navajo Nation.
Health officials reported 141 additional COVID-19 cases with eight additional deaths on the tribe’s sprawling reservation that has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak.
Officials reported a total of 3,632 positive cases and 127 deaths as of Thursday, with preliminary reports indicating that approximately 515 people have recovered from COVID-19..
Tribal officials said Apache County had 948 positive cases as of Thursday, while McKinley County had 928. Arizona’s Navajo County had 757 cases and New Mexico’s San Juan County had 428. Six other counties in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah had smaller numbers.
McKinley County’s outbreak prompted a since-ended lockdown of the city of Gallup.
Tribal officials said the Navajo Nation’s total cases newly include 99 cases that were added this week and that previously weren’t reported due to jurisdictional challenges and “longer than normal verification processes.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.
