Most of the people who have tested positive during the recent coronavirus surge in Montezuma County have school-age children, according to the Southwest Health System.
In light of the new data, the Montezuma-Cortez School District decided to move in-person students online after the Thanksgiving holiday through Jan. 11.
“There will be a lot of traditional gatherings from Thanksgiving to Christmas,” Superintendent Lori Haukeness told The Journal.
Younger children tend to be asymptomatic carriers, but Southwest Memorial Hospital has seen positive cases increase among people ages 19 to 49, who tend to be parents of school-age children, Marc Meyer, Southwest Health pharmacist and infection control manager, said.
“Research shows that COVID-19 spreads in smaller groups,” Haukeness said, and switching to remote learning when the community most likely will hold gatherings will “hopefully lower community spread during this peak season.”
Haukeness said the district’s Health Advisory Committee, consisting of members of the Montezuma County Public Health Department, Southwest Memorial Hospital, the Tribal Health Department and local physicians, recommended the remote learning start date of Nov. 30.
Meyer is part of the Health Advisory Committee, along with Kerri White-Singleton, chief operating officer of the Southwest Medical Group.
Haukeness said the school district has planned for a transition to online learning since the start of the school year.
The transition to remote learning on Nov. 30 will give Cortez students “as much in-person instruction as possible,” she said.
Ninety-six new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Montezuma County in October, a 70% increase, according to Southwest Memorial Hospital. As of Monday, the health department reported 270 total cases and 97 active cases in Montezuma County.
Southwest Memorial is transporting high-risk COVID-19 patients to cities such as Grand Junction and Denver. Statewide, intensive care beds in hospitals were at 83% capacity as of Thursday, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
“The numbers have gone up dramatically,” Meyer said.
The positivity rate at Southwest Memorial Hospital is now at 13%, up from 6% or 7% a couple of weeks ago, he said.
Montezuma County has had a high COVID-19 testing rate compared to other counties in Colorado, Meyer said. But this week, a record 69 people got in line for a test.
And in the past 10 days, 25% of the beds at Southwest Memorial were taken by COVID-19 patients, he said.
If members of the community wear masks and wash their hands frequently, cases should trend down again, Meyer said.
ehayes@the-journal.com