Volunteers help Navajo Nation amid the coronavirus pandemic

With the Navajo Nation reaching a number 2,500 positive cases of coronavirus volunteers with the non-profit ProtectAZ are helping out. They are filling in the gap and expanding antigen testing, to detect current and past expose, by partnering with NextGen. Doctor Tyler Southwell that for the insurance to kick in, a doctor has to consult and order the tests.

Since there is not enough doctors for this, they are using telemedicine to close the loophole. Volunteer doctors do the consultation over the phone and nurses on the other end administer the tests.

"Even if these patients are asymptomatic, they're very concerned about Covid. So we do a lot of education. And then when the test comes back, it's my responsibility to reach out to them to make sure they're OK," Said Dr. Southwell to ABC 15.

In two days, they were able to test about 150 Navajo first responders.

This story was originally published by ABC 15