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Navajo Nation reports 172 more coronavirus cases, 13 more deaths

(Carolyn Kaster | AP Photo) Kayenta Health Center emergency room director Dr. Anthony Griffy, second from right, works with Team Rubicon volunteers, Dr. Stan Chartoff, with the U.S. Air Force Reserve from Hartford, Conn., third from right, EMT Hannah Tellier from Boston, left and Cindy Robison, a U.S. Air Force veteran and nurse from Colorado Springs, Colo., right, as they practice with a new intubation shield that just arrived to help protect medical workers at the Kayenta Health Center emergency room Kayenta, Ariz., on April 23, 2020. Assisting the medial staff on the table, posing as a patient, is Team Rubicon safety officer and EMT Vick Dempsey. When used, the shield is placed over the coronavirus patient's head during intubation, inserting a tube down a sedated patient's throat to give them oxygen.

Window Rock, Ariz. • Health officials have reported 13 more deaths from the coronavirus on the Navajo Nation along with 172 new cases of COVID-19.

According to the Navajo Department of Health, the number of positive coronavirus cases on the vast reservation has reached 3,912 with 140 known deaths as of Saturday.

Tribal health officials said about 544 people have recovered from COVID-19 with more reports still pending as of Sunday.

They said that of 23,791 coronavirus tests have been administered with 17,409 negative results.

In March, health care experts projected that the Navajo Nation would see its peak in new cases in mid-May.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

But for some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.

The Navajo Nation has daily nighttime curfews and requires people to wear masks when out in public. Government offices are closed or have limited services.