By Emma Whitford

Law360 (April 17, 2020, 5:29 PM EDT ) Jeri Chavez opened Facebook on Thursday, hoping to watch Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez's live update on the coronavirus pandemic on the country's largest reservation, which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

An emergency room technician and college student, Chavez pays for satellite internet, which she says is the only option in her rural community of Shiprock, New Mexico.

"I was watching Jonathan Nez and the internet would stop and buffer, and I gave up," she told Law360 Thursday.

The coronavirus is exacerbating longstanding issues with internet access as positive COVID-19 cases continue to climb, tribe members told Law360. On Thursday, positive cases among Navajo Nation members surpassed 1,000.

It has been difficult in remote areas on the reservation to stay in touch with family, complete schoolwork and stream public health updates, including the latest case figures, updates on curfews and rapid testing, and directives to stay home and wear masks.

Arizona Democratic Rep. Raul Grijalva, chair of the Natural Resources Committee, raised the internet issue Friday in a COVID-19 call with tribal leaders, including Nez. "It's a necessity," he said. "It is not a luxury anymore."

The Navajo Nation announced three new drive-up internet hotspots on April 10 aimed at helping college students complete their school work. They are located at the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority offices in Chinle and Dilkon, Arizona, and the NTUA headquarters in Fort Defiance, Arizona. More have been added since, a spokesperson said Friday, but he did not have location details.

The Navajo Nation also announced a "Keeping Americans Connected Pledge" on April 10 with several Navajo Nation telecommunications providers, which promised not to cut service or impose late fees for 60 days.

"Broadband and telephone connections will help people stay connected with their loved ones, health care providers, work, and ensure our children and students can continue to engage in learning," Nez said in a statement at the time.

But he has also discouraged non-college students from using the hotspots.

"We're on a full shelter in place," Nez said during his Thursday livestream. "This is for the college students, and we don't want everyone saying that they want to hook up to the internet and cause traffic."

Limited internet also makes it difficult for some tribe members to comply with the stay at home order, one resident said, because people don't have internet access at home to pay their bills.

"A lot of the elderly can't stay home and pay their bills," said Tonya B., a Navajo Nation resident who lives near the northern border of the reservation and asked not to be fully identified. "Even [the hotspots] it's like, having to leave home, having to drive miles."

Her children are also struggling to do their schoolwork with only access to Google Classroom on her cell phone. "There's only so much they can do off of the phone," she said.

Karrie Manuelito, who lives in the reservation border town of Holbrook, Arizona, struggles to contact her mother who lives two hours north in Rough Rock.

"I'm lucky if I get a text message," she told Law360 Thursday. "I worry about her, so I end up driving out there to check on her. There's a lot of families out there that are going through that right now."

The Navajo Nation launched an ambitious project in October with the broadband planning firm Magellan Advisors to lay fiber optic cable across the nation and improve wireless connectivity and cell service outside of dense communities like Chinle and Window Rock, the seat of government.

"We do realize that tribes across the country are some of the least connected," Courtney Violette, Magellan's chief operating officer, told Law360 Friday. "NTUA has between 550 and 600 miles of fiber already across the nation, but not everywhere. We are looking to cover several thousand miles."

While the coronavirus makes the need for reliable internet "more profound than ever," Violette anticipates this project will take between five to 10 years to complete, considering the scope and funding needs. User costs have yet to be determined.

"That's useless at this point," Tonya B. told Law360 Friday.

Beyond social media, the Navajo Nation is disseminating information about COVID-19 through radio forums, public service announcements, billboards and fliers, spokesperson Jared Touchin said.

There are 1,024 positive COVID-19 cases among Navajo Nation members as of Thursday, according to a press release, up 83 from the previous day. Forty-one people have died.

The Navajo Nation has 350,000 members, half of whom live on the reservation, according to a spokesperson.

Earlier this month, Nez told Law360 that his tribe is in dire need of funding in the short term to combat the coronavirus.

As of Friday, the Indian Health Service website showed the Navajo region accounts for 57% of its positive COVID-19 cases across the country — 693 cases of 1,212. The region is also leading in testing, according to the IHS.

The IHS collects data from its own facilities; reporting by tribal and urban health centers is voluntary, according to its website. The Navajo Nation says its total is likely higher because the nation's count includes tribal facilities.

--Editing by Adam LoBelia.

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