Pecos County reached an all-time high of 341 COVID-19 active cases on Jan. 12 as reported by the county’s emergency management coordinator Jessie Dominguez.

That number has since dropped to 205 active cases as of Jan. 24. Four people were reported to be hospitalized at Pecos County Memorial Hospital on Jan. 24 and four additional Pecos County residents were hospitalized at various healthcare facilities outside of the county.

Since the Omicron variant began to show signs of spiking locally on Dec. 23, there have been four additional COVID-related deaths that have occurred in the past five weeks. In that same time span, there have been 771 new cases reported, which would put the death rate at approximately 1/200 for each individual who tests positive for the virus.

Out of the 771 new cases reported since Dec. 24, 457 were not vaccinated (60%) and 314 people were vaccinated.

PCMH vaccine mandate to begin on Feb. 21

The recently passed vaccine mandate for healthcare facilities that provide Medicare and Medicaid coverage will have little to no effect for Pecos County Memorial Hospital next month.

PCMH CEO Betsy Briscoe said on Jan. 25 that healthcare workers at their facility have until to Feb. 21 to get their first COVID-19 vaccine of their choosing and the second shot by March 21.

The CEO stated that only one employee at PCMH was not vaccinated and that individual will be getting there shot before next month’s deadline.

Over 3,000 boosted in the county

Pecos County residents who have received their booster shot (third dose) grew to over 3,000 people in the last two weeks, rising from 2,731 people on Jan. 10 to 3,165 people on Jan. 24.

The growth puts the percent of vaccine-eligible residents who have received a booster in the county to 21.6%.

The number of people who have received a vaccine for the first time or their second shot has seen a minimal increase in the past two weeks. A total of 78 people became fully vaccinated while an additional 143 residents received their first shot.