Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

White Mountain Apache Tribe Takes Strict Measures Against COVID-19 Spread

Associated Press

The White Mountain Apache Tribe is putting tougher restrictions in place to prevent further spread of the coronavirus as the infection rate surges in Arizona.

The Tribe last weekend ordered residents to go on lockdown or risk fines. A two-week shelter-in-place order will follow. The Tribe has also banned visitors who flock to the area's forests from southern Arizona to escape the desert heat. The measures are among the strictest in the state that’s recording over 3,000 cases a day and running short on hospital space. More than one-eighth of the tribe's 13,500 residents already have tested positive for COVID-19.