East Arizona News

Officials of Navajo County ask residents to be extra cautious as a surge of new COVID-19 cases have been recorded across the state of Arizona.

“Our sense of community is a little different here in Navajo County,” Navajo County Chairman Jason Whiting said in a news release on the county’s website at navajocountyaz.gov. “We’ve shown time and time again that we come together to support and help each other. Now is the time to help protect the most vulnerable among us and push our local economy forward. Individual responsibility is the key—first, keep yourself healthy with good hygiene. Second, help protect others with a simple face covering when you can’t maintain good distance. For most of us, this means slipping on a face covering before running into a store.”

The guidelines stressed wearing a mask when outside and around others and maintaining six feet of social distancing, in addition to washing hands and personal hygiene. People not feeling well or showing symptoms of the virus should stay home, the release said.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey indicated that the state over the past two weeks was headed in the wrong direction with the growing number of confirmed coronavirus cases.

“We can change this negative trend by working together and looking out for each other,” Jeff Lee, Navajo County public health director said on the county website. “If each person does what they can to keep themselves healthy, more people can get back to work and we can be confident that our hospitals will have the capacity to step in and help when one of us does fall ill or has other healthcare concerns.”

The number of reported cases of the virus in Arizona exceeded the 91,858 mark on July 3, an increase of over 4,000 from the day before, or 25% of the total in the past seven days, according to AZ Big Media.