Health Care

COVID-19 claims 31st victim in San Juan County

A man in his 80s from the Monticello area recently passed away, marking the 31st victim of the COVID-19 virus in San Juan County. The pandemic first arrived in San Juan County eight months ago, in March, 2020. Since that time, more than 1,000 San Juan County residents have tested positive for the...

COVID-19 continues to impact county though hospitalization and death rates begin to drop

COVID-19 is still impacting San Juan County as the number of local cases of the worldwide pandemic continues to grow. In the one week between November 10 and November 17, 67 county residents tested positive for COVID-19 and there are currently 130 active cases. The number of active cases more...

Gov. declares COVID-19 state of emergency as county cases level off

by David Boyle News Director There are now 107 active COVID-19 cases in San Juan County, down nine cases from 116 last week. San Juan County Health District Director Kirk Benge says after increased quarantine and social distancing efforts, cases are leveling off in Monticello. Cases are up slightly...

COVID-19 cases continue to grow, particularly in the Monticello area

Active COVID-19 cases in San Juan County are now at 116, with half of those cases coming from Monticello. Monticello increased by ten cases over the past week going from 47 to 57. Blanding also saw an increase of ten cases from 30 to 40. The Montezuma Creek and Aneth area decreased from 18 to 15....

Header of the letter sent to the Governor. The letter can be read at the bottom of this story

Blanding City Council sends letter to Governor opposing transmission rating system

The majority of the Blanding City Council sent a letter to the Utah Governor’s office on October 29, stating opposition to mandates associated with the three-level transmission rating the state has implemented in counties across the state. (The letter can be read at the bottom of this story) The...

Local COVID-19 cases continue to increase

Active COVID-19 cases now top 100 once again in San Juan County, and Monticello leads the way with a second straight week of increasing by at least 20 cases. On October 13, Monticello had three active cases. Last week, the number rose to 26, and on October 27 there were 47 confirmed COVID cases in...

map from the state's coronavirus website showing San Juan as one of 21 counties with new restrictions

In response to growing numbers state imposes covid prevention measures on San Juan County

New Covid-19 related restrictions are in place in San Juan County per the order of the state, including mandatory mask wearing and restrictions on social gatherings. The State of Utah’s previous color-coded risk index was replaced last week by the Covid-19 Transmission index. Counties in the state...

COVID cases on rise in San Juan County, focused in Monticello

COVID-19 cases are back on the rise in San Juan County, with Monticello seeing a single week increase of 23 active cases. San Juan Public Health reports an increase of 33 cases over the past week, totaling 62 cases in the county. Monticello saw the biggest increase, going from three active cases...

Vast majority of local COVID-19 deaths have been Native American

According to the US Census Bureau, approximately 252,000 people live in Washington, Iron, Kane, Garfield, and Beaver counties. The five counties make up a single health district known as the Southwestern Utah Health District. In contrast, the population of San Juan County is estimated at 15,000....

One COVID-19 Vaccine trial is including a few hundred members of the Navajo Nation in its final trial of the drug

COVID-19 vaccine trial to include hundreds of members of the Navajo Nation

The final phase of study for a coronavirus vaccine will include volunteers from the Navajo Nation. Since coronavirus first arrived in the United States in the late winter of 2020, a race among pharmaceutical companies to find a vaccine for the virus has been underway. Now three companies and their...