Governor cautiously optimistic on COVID-19

New Mexico saw its daily average number of coronavirus case rise last week, but the governor sent a cautious message of optimism.

The state saw four days last week where its COVID-19 case count hit the 200 and higher. In previous weeks, the number often had dropped below 100.

The seven-day average had risen from the low 100s to near the gating-criteria number of 168.

“I’m still feeling good and optimistic,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during her weekly health briefing Thursday, “though the last few days have jarred me.”

She continued to urge residents to “double down” on COVID-safe practices by wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding possible indoor exposure to the virus and getting a COVID-19 test in case of illness or exposure.

“Don’t let COVID fatigue prevent you from doing what’s right,” she said.

The state’s spread rate rose last week to 1.09, above the benchmark of 1.05.

The number of rapid responses rose from about 125 in the Sept. 7-13 period to about 225 on Sept. 14-20. Large increases were seen in the restaurants and retail/wholesale sectors.

“This is problematic,” she said. “It indicates we are spreading COVID.”

New Mexico’s test-positive rate was 2.13%, though Lujan Grisham acknowledged it had risen to 3.4% one day. The benchmark is 5%.

Lujan Grisham also announced she’d raised the goal for average daily tests to 7,000, from 5,000. The state conducted 5,858 tests Sept. 22, the latest data available before the hearing.

Since Sept. 7, a total of 71 cases had been reported in staff and students affiliated with public schools. However, 55% of those occurred in remote-learning environments.

In a question from a reporter, the governor said she was expanding random surveillance testing to schools because it worked well in the child-care sector.

On Sunday, 159 new cases in the state had been reported, with no deaths. Sixty-six people remain hospitalized with the disease.

In the U.S., 7.1 million people had been confirmed with the virus, with more than 204,000 deaths, as of Sunday.

Local outlook

The latest Quay County coronavirus case was reported Wednesday — a male in the Tucumcari ZIP code age 50 to 59.

The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began rose to 74, with two deaths.

A total of 46 people in the county have recovered from the disease, according to data from the New Mexico Department of Health website. A total of 1,921 tests for COVID-19 have been administered.

Quay County will be evaluated on per-capita caseloads and test positivity rates later this week for the Sept. 16-30 time period on whether it can allow more in-person teaching in its public schools.

During that period so far, five cases have been reported to the county through Sunday. According to Quay County Sun calculations, the county must keep the total at nine or lower to meet the criteria of eight daily cases per 100,000 people to land in the green zone.

The county’s test-positivity rate was 3.8% through Sunday, according to calculations. The benchmark is 5% or lower.