Checkpoints erected on Hopi reservation, lockdown to continue through Feb. 1
KYKOTSMOVI, Ariz. – In an effort to raise awareness of COVID-19 and its impacts on the greater community, the Hopi Tribe has extended its lockdown for all residents on the reservation and will be constructing safety checkpoints.
Hopi Law Enforcement Services will be setting up the checkpoints at various locations throughout the reservation during the next several weeks.
According to the tribe, the checkpoints are in place as part of an overall response to the community spread of coronavirus across villages on the reservation.
“Expect officers to be highly visible on the highways and roadways and conducting safety checkpoints and issuing citations,” the tribe stated.
A curfew is in place and will continue through Feb. 1. The curfew is from 8 p.m. – 5 a.m. Those without an essential employee letter or justified cause to be traveling during curfew hours could receive a warning and/or citation, according to the tribe.
As of Jan. 8, Hopi Health Care Center has tested over 7,552 patients.
More than 1,051 of those tests at Hopi Health Care Center came back positive with 729 from Hopi Tribal members.
Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation reported 152 positives for Hopi villages with a combined number of 881 positive Hopi tribal members.
Community mitigation efforts aim to reduce the rate at which someone infected comes in contact with someone not infected, or reduce the probability of infection if there is contact. The more a person interacts with different people, and the longer and closer the interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread.
As communities adjust mitigation strategies, they should ensure that the healthcare system capacity will not be exceeded. Precautions should be taken to protect health care professionals and other critical infrastructure workers. Communities need to assure healthcare systems have adequate staffing, a surplus of inpatient and ICU beds, and critical medical equipment and supplies such as PPE.
“The Hopi community needs every individual citizen to take responsibility with helping the efforts of mitigating the community wide spread. We are seeing continued increases in cases in every single village on the reservation,” the tribe stated.
As of Jan. 6, the United Sates reported approximately 21 million confirmed positive cases with 299,904 new cases and over 359,849 deaths from the coronavirus.
More than 584,593 confirmed positive cases now exist in Arizona. Of those, close to 12,086 are in Navajo County.
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