Delta Variant Spreading on the Navajo Nation

Bitahnii Wilson is among the Dine' volunteers that continue to raise their own funds and deliver water in new water barrels to fellow Dine'. Although the Navajo Nation government received more than $2.5 billion in federal relief funds -- from the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan -- since June of 2020, the Navajo Nation government has not allocated and distributed the majority of funds. Dine' remain in need, as water pumps and windmills are broken and long-distance water hauling continues. Water lines fail to reach about one-third of the homes. -- Censored News.

Delta Variant of Coronavirus Spreading on the Navajo Nation

By Brenda Norrell
Censored News

July 19, 2021

Update July 20, 2021

The risks have increased. Today's travel warning shows that fully vaccinated people are at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 variants, which includes Delta variant.

The CDC and the United States issued the highest warning about travel, warning travelers not to go to Britian.

"Because of the current situation in the United Kingdom, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants," CDC said.

WiNDOW ROCK, Navajo Nation -- The Delta variants of COVID-19 are spreading on the Navajo Nation. The number of cases and deaths from coronavirus increased over the weekend.

The Navajo Department of Health said the Delta virus cases on the Navajo Nation resulted from Dine' travel to Las Vegas, Phoenix and Utah, and was then spread by way of family gatherings.

Over the weekend, the Navajo Nation government reported 30 new cases of coronavirus and two deaths on Saturday and Sunday, July 17 and 18, 2021.


The Navajo Department of Health, in coordination with the Navajo Epidemiology Center and the Navajo Area Indian Health Service, reported 17 new COVID-19 positive cases for Saturday and 13 for Sunday and two more deaths reported on Saturday.

The total number of Dine' deaths from coronavirus is now 1,366.

The Navajo Times reported, "On July 7, the highest number of COVID-19 cases on the Nation in a while was reported with 24 cases in 24 hours. This uptick was because of a family cluster related to recent travel to Las Vegas, according to the Navajo Department of Health.

"But other travel to cities such as Phoenix and states like Utah have all been reported as reasons for Navajo cases."

"So far 11 Delta/Epsilon variant cases were confirmed and nine cases of Delta, 114 of Alpha, four of Gamma, 20 of Epsilon and five Beta/Gamma."

Dine' who were fully vaccinated, with two Pfizer vaccinations, are among those testing positive for coronavirus this week.

Health officials urge wearing masks after being vaccinated.

The Navajo Department of Health reported the first confirmed case of the Delta variant from a COVID-19 test sample that was obtained in the northern region of the Navajo Nation, on June 26, 2021.

The Delta variant is more transmissible and can cause more severe illness.

Since the first cases of coronavirus in March of 2020, the age group of Dine' most often contracting the coronavirus are young adults, ages 20 to 40 years old. The age group with the largest number of deaths from the virus is 60 to 69, according to data of the Navajo Department of Health.

The state of Arizona reported 980 new cases on Sunday. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Friday that new cases are up by nearly 70 percent in just a week. Hospitalizations are up by nearly 36 percent.

The image below shows the coronavirus cases on the Navajo Nation since March 2020 when the first cases of coronavirus were spread at church gatherings on the Navajo Nation.

 Source Navajo Nation July 16, 2021.