Serving the High Plains

New COVID-19 case reported Thursday in county

The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday confirmed a new case of coronavirus in Quay County — the third day in a row one was reported.

The latest case was a male age 10 to 19, according to the agency's website.

The location of the latest case wasn’t known. ZIP code data for Quay County on the DOH’s website hadn’t been updated. An email to a spokeswoman to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham asking about the discrepancy hadn’t been immediately returned.

That brought the total in Quay County to 66 cases since the pandemic began, with deaths to two residents.

The overall totals by ZIP code in the county stood at 32 in Tucumcari, 30 in Logan and five in San Jon. That total adds up to 67; the DOH did not have an explanation for the discrepancy.

Forty-four residents have been deemed as recovered from the virus. A total of 1,708 tests for COVID-19 have been performed since the pandemic began.

Statewide, a total of 161 cases were reported Thursday. More than 26,400 people have been confirmed with the virus.

Three deaths were reported in the state Thursday, bringing the total to 816.

A total of 80 people in New Mexico are hospitalized with COVID-19, a number that has crept upward in recent days. A total of 14,120 New Mexicans have been deemed as recovered from the disease.

During a health briefing Thursday, Human Services Secretary David Scrase said the seven-day average of COVID-19 in New Mexico had fallen to 101 — well below the gating criteria of 168. He said those were the best numbers in four to six months.

The state’s spread rate of the disease was 0.76 — an all-time low, Scrase said, and below the gating criteria of 1.05. The statewide test positive rate was 2.3%, well below the threshold of 5%.

Scrase said the only gating criteria the state hadn’t met was average daily testing. The number was 4,896, slightly below the threshold of 5,000. He attributed the drop to recent bad weather and anticipated the number would rise.

Data from Aug. 27 to Sept. 9 showed Quay County saw six cases. The worst counties were Dona Ana and Chavez.

East of Quay County, 609 active cases of COVID-19 were reported in Amarillo through Thursday. That number has been increasing in recent days.

In the U.S., nearly 6.4 million people have been confirmed with the virus, with more than 191,000 deaths through Thursday afternoon.

 
 
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