ANTONIA: President Jonathan Nez.

Welcome to New Mexico in Focus.

PRES.

NEZ: Hello, Antonia.

Thank  you for having us on the show.

ANTONIA: President Nez, we know COVID-19 has hit  the Navajo Nation hard.

There are states across   the country loosening up their restrictions,  including New Mexico, ending its indoor mask   mandate.

What's the Tribe's response?

PRES.

NEZ: Well, it's unfortunate that,   you know, this country is starting to remove  some of their COVID-19 restrictions.

We're not   out of the pandemic yet, as you know, Antonia.

I  hear other variants are popping up on the other   side of the world and we just want to stay  cautious.

You know, for the Navajo Nation,   we've never taken our mass mandate away.

We've  had it in place since the onset, April of 2020.

And, even though we've heard jurisdictions  around us and, you know, even the CDC saying,   “You don't have to wear a mask,” and then later  on, they say, “Well, I'll put the mask back on.”   On the Navajo Nation, we  never wavered.

We continue to   keep our mask mandate in place.

We  want to, you know, keep our citizens   safe throughout this pandemic and, you know, we've  gotten some positive comments, because keeping our   mask mandate in place from our Navajo  citizens, you know, it's about protecting our   families, protecting our community and protecting  our Navajo Nation.

You know, it's not about,   you know, restricting anybody's freedom, by  forcing people to wear masks.

I mean, we just   went through a tough surge last year and many  surges since then.

And we feel like these   protocols have kept us safe and this last surge  started a month ago.

This should be a testament   to what the Navajo people have done, is  to get 75 percent of their people fully   and keeping some of these protocols have helped   keep COVID-19 from hurting our people.

You  know, with this last surge, yes, there was   some breakthrough cases, but because of a high  vaccinated population we didn't see many people   in the hospitals.

We did see unvaccinated  people ending up in the emergency rooms,   compared to often have one nation where we saw a  skyrocketing numbers of people ending up in the   emergency rooms and ending up being admitted  in the hospital.

So, I hope people see that,   you know, if these protocols are taken seriously,  just imagine how better off it would be throughout   the United States, if we were just to  have done this during the first year,   year and a half of this pandemic.

ANTONIA: And speaking about   off-reservation, the Tribe's message, your message  to Reservation residents, when they're traveling.

What is your message to the public, to  continue to wear masks in public and   yourself as a tribal leader, when you're out  there doing your official tribal business,   what kind of example are you setting?

PRES.

NEZ: Well, I was just mentioning earlier   that the Arizona state basketball tournaments  were happening here in Arizona.

You know, large   gatherings.

There's no restrictions off the Navajo  Nation, but we went there and it was encouraging,   really inspiring to see our Navajo citizens  wearing their mask, watching the games.

And what   was even more inspiring was to see the student  athletes, you know, they didn't have to wear masks   on the court, but they chose to wear a mask and  they were a role model to the rest of the state of   Arizona, that they are serious about pushing back  on COVID-19.

And with the mask mandate in place   here on Navajo, we tell our visitors, “You’ve  got to wear a mask.

We're a sovereign Nation.

We have the ability to govern ourselves and this  is our decision.

Please, you know, honor that   and if not then, you know, what can we say, you  know?

Maybe come back later on.” But, right now,   a mask mandate is in place and we just  ask for our visitors to respect that.

ANTONIA: Speaking of tribal sovereignty, as  a tribal government, making your own rules   and regulations, has there been any consultation  about loosening restrictions from, whether it's   the state of New Mexico, Arizona or Utah?

Has  the Governor's offices of any of the states or   any cities consulted with the Navajo Nation?

PRES.

NEZ: Not one.

They're making their own   decisions.

As you stated, New Mexico took  their mask mandate away.

I did speak to   a City Councilor out of Flagstaff, Arizona.

He's wanting to encourage his city council   to keep the mask mandate on.

It wasn't a Tribal  consultation, it was a actually a quick visit at   the basketball game, but I think people see  the great job the Navajo people have done,   you know, and again Dr. Fauci has said, you  know, the Navajo Nation is a case study, a model,   if we were to follow these protocols, you know,  we could really get back to some normal.

But,   until then, we'll see what happens.

But, the Navajo Nation continues to take   the pandemic seriously, especially our elders,  right?

Our elders, large percentage, over   80 percent are fully vaccinated.

That just tells  you that our elderly population are taking this,   this COVID-19 public health emergency seriously.

ANTONIA: And, is there, I know there's no magic   crystal ball, to see the future,  but are there some numbers or some,   you know, some data or something that  would make the Navajo Nation loosen   restrictions, including a mask mandate?

PRES.

NEZ: Of course.

Every day, I get updates   from our public health professionals.

I do have  periodic meetings with our Navajo Nation COVID-19   team, that includes some of the  doctors, the health care professionals,   that give us guidance.

And so,  when we see the numbers decrease   all around us and the high vaccination percentage  all around us, then… and I think we will be   lifting some of these restrictions, but until  then we're doing it in incremental steps.

I think the next, the next move, if we see  these numbers very low, we'll be going from 50   to 75 percent, and reopening our businesses.

So,  that is something that is coming up.

And then also   opening, possibly, our gyms, our wellness centers  to the public.

And, we're going to continue to   look to our doctors and public health  professionals here on the Nation for guidance.

ANTONIA: Your Navajo Nation vaccination  events, testing events, have seemed to   slow down a little bit.

What's now the  focus for the tribe and healthcare workers?

PRES.

NEZ: Well, the continuation of getting  people vaccinated, of course.

We're almost in   that time period of the six months.

So, every six  months, you get a get a shot to fight COVID-19, or   to protect yourself from COVID-19.

The third shot,  you know, I think we're almost at the six months.

So, there, there'll be a fourth shot, I'm sure,  and then we'll be out there promoting that.

Right now, the Navajo people have received  much of them, have received their boosters.

The Navajo Nation employees over 80 percent of  our Navajo Nation employees are boosted and it is   a mandate for Navajo Nation employees to get the  third shot.

I don't think any other jurisdiction   and any other government has done that, even  the federal government, mandating that they get   their employees the third shot.

So, that's  something we're leading the way on here on   the Navajo Nation.

And we just want to keep our  employees safe, but not to shut down government.

We're going to continue to provide services  to our Navajo people and keep everybody safe.

ANTONIA: And what's the top recovery right now,  at the moment, for recovering from COVID-19?

What's your focus right now?

PRES.

NEZ: Well, right now,   we're looking at reopening the hospitals for  those non-Covid-19 procedures.

Some of those were   put on hold because our focus and our attention  were on COVID-19 related health issues.

So, there   are, some of our Navajo people that are, we're  waiting on some operations or some procedures,   non-COVID-19 related.

So, we're going to be  focusing on that with the hospitals.

We're handing   out masks.

We’ve got many masks, the KN95 masks,  that we're handing out in public.

You know what,   it's a good timing, too, you know, even at these  basketball games here on the Navajo Nation,   we're still capped at these basketball events at  25 percent.

But, people do come out.

We're handing   out masks there in large quantities, so that  they can stock up as well.

And then, I think, we   all know, I know that masked utilizes, utilizing  masks will slow down the spread of COVID-19 and   we can continue to provide hygiene kits, cleaning  supplies, as we transition to the spring, because   it'll get a little warmer and we're hoping that  we keep the other surges from coming and hitting   us hard once again here on the Navajo Nation.

ANTONIA: Well, I know you have a busy schedule   ahead of you for today and the  rest of the week, but real quick,   if you have any thoughts on President Biden's  State of the Union Address last night.

What   are you looking for, for the Navajo people?

PRES.

NEZ: Well, he did mention Indian Country in   his speech.

That was encouraging.

I thought he did  an excellent job, on the delivery of his address,   very inspiring.

Towards the end there, I know, the  attention is on Ukraine, what's happening there.

Navajo Nation is standing with the citizens  of Ukraine as well.

We took a position there   to make sure that, you know, we pray for our  brothers and sisters there in Ukraine.

And,   you know, protecting their sovereign ability to  govern.

And, you know, that's what we do as Tribal   Governments as well.

And, we're even looking into  our investments.

Are there any investments from   the Russian government or anything Russian, so  that we can re-evaluate some of our relations with   Russia, the government and Putin.

So, I think  other Tribes are going to be doing that.

I know   states are not purchasing Russian goods and  even boycotting some of those.

I think we also   need to look at the bigger picture, the  investments, international investments,   re-evaluating our portfolio.

And right now, I'm  just getting a rundown on anything associated with   the Russian government.

And we  gotta cut our ties.

And, I think   we got to do that in Indian country as well.

ANTONIA: Navajo Nation President, Jonathan Nez,   thank you for joining us on New Mexico PBS.

PRES.

NEZ: Thank you for having us Antonia.