COVID cases increase from 28 to 99 active cases in one month

The number of active COVID-19 cases in San Juan County continues to grow, exploding to 99 cases as of September 3. 

The number has increased from 28 to 99 active cases in the one month between August 3 and September 3.

San Juan Public Health states that almost all of the current active cases are assumed to be from the Delta variant that has spread across the globe.

Incidence of the virus appears to be growing among younger populations in the county. 

San Juan Public Health will begin reporting on the active case numbers in school-age children on September 8 (after the press deadline).

The San Juan School District reports 20 active cases of the virus in the local schools, including 15 active cases in Blanding schools, four active cases in Monument Valley schools, and one active case in Monticello schools.

In Moab, Grand County High School is closed this week after an outbreak in the school impacted 18 students and faculty members.

Grand County will implement a 30-day mask mandate in local schools beginning this week. 

In the San Juan School District, students and faculty in six of the 12 schools are under a mask mandate.

The latest figures from San Juan Public Health show 22 new cases that were diagnosed in September. 

Of the 22 cases, just one case is classified as a “breakthrough case” of a vaccinated person. 

Overall, 96 percent of the active cases have been unvaccinated.

A growing number of local residents are taking the vaccine, with the number of “fully vaccinated” residents growing to 6,206 of the 14,800 county residents.  This represents 42 percent of the total county population. 

On August 3, the number of county residents considered fully vaccinated totaled 5,833, meaning 373 county residents have become fully vaccinated in the past month.

A total of 30 breakthrough cases have been diagnosed in San Juan County, with 28 from the Pfizer vaccine and two from the Moderna vaccine.

San Juan Public Health states that all 39 COVID-related deaths were non-vaccinated.  There have been no hospitalizations for breakthrough cases. 

There have been 182 reported hospitalizations of county residents due to COVID.

Active cases of the virus can be found throughout the county, with 46 active cases in the Blanding area, 23 cases in the Montezuma Creek area, 12 cases in the Monticello area, and eight cases in the Monument Valley area.

A total of 39 San Juan County residents have passed away since the arrival of the COVID-19 virus in March, 2020.

All public schools in the county were closed in the spring of 2020. Public schools in the mountain region of the San Juan School District had the 2020-21 school year with mask mandates and testing.

There was no in-school instruction in the river region of the school district for the 2020-21 school year.

This year, all schools are open for in-school instruction, with mask mandates in the six river region schools.