WASHINGTON-Thursday, the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice programs announced it has awarded $486,348 to the Navajo Nation as it fights to fend off one of the worst COVID-19 disasters in the United States.

The Navajo Reservation consists of 17,544,500 acres of land, most of which lies in San Juan County in southeastern Utah. It also protrudes into northwestern New Mexico and northeastern Arizona.

It is currently suffering through one of the highest per capita rates of COVID-19 in the United States.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Katharine T. Sullivan said the department stands with Navajo leaders and all citizens as they seek to vanquish the crisis.

Presently, more than 140 have died from COVID-19 on the reservation.

Federal and state governments have sent doctors, researchers and supplies to the area.

Friday, the Utah Farm Bureau will be sending food to the reservation that was collected under its Farmers Feeding Utah project.

The Utah Department of Health has sent a mobile testing unit and Geneva, Switzerland-based Doctors Without Borders has a team in the area to advise tribal health officials.

The new federal money is part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, Economic and Security (CARES) Act signed by United States President Donald Trump in March.

Per a Department of Justice news release, the emergency program makes $850 million available to support tribal, local and state efforts to address this pandemic.

This allows jurisdictions to hire personnel, pay overtime, purchase protective equipment and distribute resources to adversely-hit areas.