Southwest Health System

COVID-19 can be a very dangerous virus for pregnant women who have not been vaccinated against it. Unvaccinated pregnant women are at especially high risk of severe complications, which can affect both the mother and her unborn child. Experts say the vaccine is completely safe to take, but here in Montezuma County, vaccination rates among pregnant women remain low.

Southwest Health System in Cortez will discontinue drive-thru COVID-19 testing, and the hospital's director of infection control says COVID hospitalizations are down and vaccination rates are up in Montezuma County. But he also says the pandemic isn't over, and warns against rolling back precautions too soon. KSJD's Lucas Brady Woods sat down with Meyer to talk through the details.

Communities across the US are experiencing surges of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. But the Omicron wave is only starting to pick up momentum here in Southwest Colorado, where about 60% of the population is vaccinated, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. To get details on the situation, KSJD's Lucas Brady Woods spoke to Mark Meyer, head of infection control at Southwest Health System, who says severe COVID infections are concentrated among the unvaccinated.

A bipartisan infrastructure bill is headed to President Joe Biden’s desk after passage in the house last week, and some of the funding will be designated for the Colorado River basin; Southwest Health System will be holding a COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Saturday for children ages 5 to 11.

The Kwiyagat Community Academy in Towaoc held an event on Thursday to mark the first six weeks of the school’s inaugural academic year; Southwest Health System in Cortez held a clinic on Thursday offering booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine made by Pfizer.

Southwest Health System in Cortez announced that it will require its staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19; The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment posted a new system on its website for users to view and compare data on breakthrough cases of COVID-19; For the second time in a week, officials with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife recovered the body of a drowning victim from the waters of a state reservoir.

On this week's Health and Prevention Report, we're replaying an important interview about the status of the Covid-19 pandemic in Montezuma County. The Delta Variant is now making up the vast majority of the COVID-19 cases both locally and nationally, and we may be seeing the beginning of a surge in the virus. KSJD News spoke with Marc Meyer, head of infection control and vaccinations at Southwest Health System, about the situation.

Colorado Governor Jared Polis says the state will be ready to roll out coronavirus vaccine booster shots to thousands of residents as soon as next month; Southwest Health System in Cortez is reestablishing some pandemic safety protocols as it sees an increase in COVID-19 patients this week; Montezuma County Road G was closed due to flooding on Wednesday afternoon about six miles from the Utah state line.

The Delta Variant is now making up the vast majority of the COVID-19 cases in the US and right here in Montezuma County, where we may be seeing the beginning of a surge in the virus. KSJD news spoke with Marc Meyer, head of infection control and vaccinations at Southwest Health System here in Cortez about the Delta Variant locally.

The Bureau of Land Management’s Tres Rios Field Office began a prescribed burn today about seven miles east of Dove Creek.The Town of Mancos has announced…