Jill Biden to visit Navajo Nation, once floored by COVID-19

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — Jill Biden is traveling to the country's largest Native American reservation, the Navajo Nation, which was hit hard by the coronavirus but is outpacing the U.S. in vaccination rates while maintaining strict pandemic restrictions.

The trip Thursday and Friday will be Biden's third to the reservation that spans 27,000 square miles (70,000 square kilometers) in the Four Corners region, and her inaugural visit as first lady.

She's expected to meet Navajo officials in the tribal capital of Window Rock, named for an opening in a red sandstone arch and where the tribe established a veterans memorial. She'll also visit a boarding school and a nearby hospital that has been administering vaccines, both of which the tribe runs under contract with the federal government.

The trip comes as the Navajo Nation marked 10 consecutive days with no known COVID deaths and far fewer daily cases than early on in the pandemic, when the reservation had one of the country's highest per-capita infection rates. The tribe on Wednesday reported one more death, bringing the tally to 1,263.

The tribe has approached reopening more cautiously than surrounding states, most recently because of coronavirus variants identified among infections. On Monday, it plans to reopen tribal parks to residents and increase capacity for businesses, gatherings and tribal casinos to 50%.

About half the reservation's population is fully vaccinated, roughly twice the U.S. rate. Still, residents on the Navajo Nation must wear masks and travel only for essential activity. Tribal roads are closed to visitors.

“We’re not celebrating yet,” Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez said during a virtual town hall Wednesday. “The pandemic is still here.”

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