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Navajo Nation reports 15 more COVID-19 cases, 2 more deaths

(Adriana Zehbrauskas | The New York Times) A sign reading "Wear a mask" in Chinle, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation Reservation, on May 27, 2020.

Window Rock, Ariz.Navajo Nation health officials have reported 15 more cases of COVID-19 and two additional deaths.

That brings the total number of people infected to 9,308 and the known death toll to 472 as of Sunday night.

Navajo Department of Health officials said 85,206 people have been tested for the coronavirus and 6,859 have recovered.

Tribal President Jonathan Nez pointed to the latest coronavirus figures as evidence that most Navajo Nation residents are complying with lockdown orders and the advice of medical experts. The tribe has a work group determining a plan to gradually reopen the reservation.

The Navajo Nation changed its 57-hour weekend lockdown to a 32-hour one that began at 9 p.m. Saturday and ended at 5 a.m. Monday.

Tribal officials said the daily curfew also will be changed to those same hours on the vast reservation that covers parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.

The majority of people who are diagnosed with COVID-19 recover.

For some people it causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough.

But for others who contract the virus, especially those who are older or have underlying health conditions, it can cause more severe illness and death.