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Tribes take measures to slow spread of new coronavirus
Felicia Fonseca, Associated Press Updated 1:44 am CDT, Sunday, March 22, 2020
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Sharon Bahe has made her home on the Navajo Nation a refuge, placing cedar branches and burning sage to help purify the space and praying for protection for herself and her children home from boarding school and a toddler with severe asthma.
Her community of about 500 in northern Arizona has become a hot spot for the new coronavirus, with several cases confirmed. While other kids play outside, she tells hers they can't “until the virus goes away.”
Officials on the Navajo Nation, the largest Native American reservation, on Friday broadened a stay-at-home order from Chilchinbeto to the entire reservation: No visitors in, and residents can't leave their homes except for essential tasks, including to get food and medical supplies.
The order is among the strictest yet in Indian Country, though tribes across the U.S. for weeks have been preparing amid worries that the outbreak could quickly overwhelm a chronically underfunded health care system and affect a population that suffers disproportionately from cancer, diabetes and some respiratory diseases.
More:
https://www.chron.com/news/medical/article/Tribes-take-measures-to-slow-spread-of-new-15147944.php