Serving the High Plains

Quay sees 15 new cases Saturday

Quay County saw a record-breaking 15 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, and it recorded its third death from the disease last week.

The county’s total broke the previous mark of nine, set Friday. It was the third consecutive day the county had broken or tied the record.

A total of 102 cases have been reported in the county in November alone.

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, the latest Quay County death, reported Wednesday, was a woman in her 60s who had been hospitalized with underlying conditions.

Eleven more cases were reported Monday in the county, all in the Tucumcari ZIP code.

Six females and five males were infected. The age breakdown was one age 9 and under, three age 10 to 19, one age 20 to 29, two age 30 to 39, one age 40 to 49, one age 50 to 59, one age 60 to 69 and one age 70 to 79.

The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began rose to 209. A total of 77 people have been deemed as recovered from the virus.

The breakdown by ZIP code since the pandemic began is 148 in Tucumcari, 45 in Logan, five in San Jon, four in House, four in McAlister, one in Nara Visa, one in Bard and one in Grady (part of which extends into the county).

According to the state’s COVID-19 rapid-response database, these recent referrals involved Tucumcari entities regarding confirmed coronavirus cases among employees:

• Tucumcari Elementary School, one case referred Nov. 16;

• Mesalands Community College, one case referred Nov. 16;

• Tucumcari Public Schools, one case referred Nov. 17;

• K-Bee Homecare, one case referred Nov. 17;

• Flying J Travel Plaza, one case referred Wednesday;

• City of Tucumcari Water Department, two cases referred Wednesday;

• Helping Hands Hospice, one case referred Thursday;

• Trigg Memorial Hospital, one case referred Friday;

• McDonald’s, one case referred Friday;

• Tucumcari Elementary School, one case referred Saturday;

• Lowe’s Ace Hardware Family Center, one case referred Sunday.

Entities must undertake health protocols when they land on the list.

In the state, the DOH on Monday reported 2,259 cases. The total number since the pandemic began surpassed 83,000.

A total of 748 cases were reported in Bernalillo County, with another 202 in Dona Ana County.

A total of 17 deaths were reported Monday, raising the overall total to 1,400.

A record total of 846 people were hospitalized with the disease on Monday.

In the U.S., more than 12.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported through Monday since the pandemic began, with more than 257,000 deaths.