WATCH MD Airlift Flight


Left: MD 902 serial number 095 is topped off with fuel before departing for the Navajo Nation laden with supplies and equipment for blunting the impact of the COVID-19 virus.


Above: The landscape of the Navajo Nation is often breathtaking, but that rugged beauty comes at the cost of both access and arability.


The Challenges COVID-19 infections began sweeping the United States in early 2020, leading to concerns about the impact of the disease on vulnerable Native American populations. These communities are often isolated and poor, with high rates of diabetes, obesity, and other health conditions that make residents high risk for COVID. The Navajo Nation occupies 27,000 sq. mi., although with a population about the


size of Eugene, Oregon’s. Thirty percent of homes on the reservation lack electricity or running water. Poverty is endemic, and health care is as scarce as grocery stores. Within the reservation’s borders, in an area larger than the fi ve smallest US states com- bined, are a mere 5 hospitals, 7 full-time health-care centers, and 13 grocery stores. Rugged topography, coupled with low population density, makes access diffi cult.


Much of the land is ill-suited for roads, and after winter snowfalls, most smaller roads are impassable.


JUNE 2021 ROTOR 49


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