The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council has voted to close the eastern boundary of Glacier National Park for the rest of the tourist season after a recent spike of COVID-19 cases in Montana.

For the first time since WWII, the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA) announced it will not hold the Hopi Festival of Arts and Culture, or any of the heritage festivals for the Navajo and Zuni, this year because of the continuing spread of COVID-19.

The city of Page has declared a public health emergency and issued a new ordinance requiring face masks be worn in public.

The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise (Navajo Nation Gaming) has extended the closure of all Navajo Nation Gaming properties through July 27.

Nez presented data from the Department of Health showing a steady flattening of the curve for COVID-19 cases indicating that the weekend lockdowns, daily curfews, requiring face masks and other precautions are working.

The total number of deaths is 363 as of June 30.

PHOENIX, Ariz. —Governor Doug Ducey and Superintendent Kathy Hoffman announced a $270 million plan to help Arizona public schools safely open at the start of the school year, while allowing for remote learning June 24.

Navajo Technical University (NTU) will implement a hybrid-learning environment when it opens for the fall semester Aug. 10 for a condensed 15-week schedule.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, D.C., initially granted a request from tribal nations to withhold money from the corporations while he determined whether they qualified for a share of $8 billion.

The funds are part of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Stimulus (CARES) Act payments to state, local and tribal governments approved April 27 by Congress and President Donald Trump.

In coordination with area medical centers, NAH reported a slight improvement of cases in the Page and Tuba City areas at a June 17 press briefing.

A 57-hour weekend lockdown remains in place June 26-29 as well as a travel advisory outside the Navajo Nation because of an increase in COVID-19 cases in areas surrounding the Navajo Nation.

On July 4, Winslow will again host a fireworks show for residents and visitors.

Class 55 police recruits will be the fourth class to be trained under the Navajo Nation’s Police Academy since its reopening in 2018 and is the Academy’s first class to undergo a training program while dealing with a global pandemic.

While the national response rate was 61.5 percent as of June 18 and the response rate for Arizona was 58.1 percent, just 1.5 percent of Navajo Nation residents had returned their forms.

In a little over a month since the Hopi Relief Fund started, they have found their efforts are working. People in the villages are contacting them asking if they can help.

The mandate goes into effect June 20 at 8 p.m.

Arizona mayors are free to make wearing face masks mandatory to slow the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Doug Ducey said June 17, a turnabout amid pressure as the state became a national virus hotspot.

The U.S. Treasury Department must release $679 million in coronavirus relief funding for tribes that it intended to withhold while a court challenge over the agency's initial round of payments to tribal governments played out in court, a federal judge ruled late June 15.

Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez stated in a recent town hall meeting that he is very concerned about the rise in cases in Arizona.

The number of new coronavirus cases in Arizona has hit an alarming new daily high of nearly 2,400 — almost double the previous record, health officials said June 16.

The death toll has reached 311 and reservation-wide cases totaled 6,611 as of June 15.

Dozens of hospital staff contracted the virus as doctors and nurses scrambled to attend to critically ill COVID-19 patients.

“We, as Navajo Nation leadership, must stress the importance of the 2020 Census to every Navajo household,” said 24th Navajo Nation Council Speaker Seth Damon.

A federal judge in the nation’s capital has denied a request from a Native American tribe in Kansas to halt further distribution of coronavirus relief funds for tribal nations.

“We have to shield them from this monster that is taking over our land,” Nez said.

La Posada Restaurant and Hotel in Winslow opened May 29.

On June 4, food boxes were delivered via nine Angel Flight West private aircrafts to Chinle, Arizona and Shiprock, New Mexico.

A non-profit, Kitchen to Ward, created by Aayush Kabra, is not only helping bring food to Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation, but is also helping local restaurants become part of helping to feed hospital staff during the pandemic.

Navajo leaders canceled this year’s Fourth of July celebrations in Window Rock as the tribe continues to grapple with the COVID-19 pandemic.