- Details
- By Native News Online Staff
The Hopi Tribe in Northeast Arizona last week issued a “red alert” for reservation-wide lockdown in response to rising Covid-19 infections.
All residents are encouraged to get vaccinated, work remotely when possible, wear a mask in public spaces, and limit travel. The tribe recommended schools re-open only if they can prove social distancing measures are in place.
Within the last two weeks, there were close to 300 active cases, about half of which tested positive the past week alone.
Red alert status is meant to convey the “seriousness of the pandemic…due to the alarming rate of COVID-19 cases,” according to the tribe’s Public Health Authority Royce Jenkins. “It is going on three years and we all must do our part to continue to be on the defense and offense combating COVID-19,” he wrote in the alert issued Jan. 14.
Though 91 percent of eligible tribal members are vaccinated, The Hopi Health Department reported just over 63 million positive covid cases nationally as of last Thursday, 1.5 million of which are in the state of Arizona.
More Stories Like This
Office on Violence Against Women Government-to-Government Tribal Consultation Set for Jan. 21 - 23 at Mystic LakeBREAKING: Feds Reverse $2B in Cuts to Addiction, Mental Health; Native Programs Restored
Trump Administration Cuts End Five Indigenous Health Programs at Johns Hopkins
Navajo MMDR Task Force Addresses Gaps in Missing Persons Cases, Strengthens Alerts
Tribe Sues IHS Over Rejected Opioid Treatment Facility as Natives See Highest Overdose Rates
