Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday reported five confirmed cases of coronavirus in Quay County, all in the Tucumcari ZIP code.
Four females and one male were infected in the county. The breakdown by age is two age 10 to 19, one age 30 to 39, one age 40 to 49 and one age 50 to 59.
Quay County continued to see an elevated rate of COVID-19 cases in December, with 45 so far. A total of 140 cases were reported in the county in November.
The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began rose to 292, with five deaths. A total of 93 people have been deemed by the state as recovered from the virus.
The latest breakdown by ZIP code since the pandemic began is 224 in Tucumcari, 46 in Logan, seven in House, six in San Jon, four in McAlister, two in Nara Visa, two in Bard and one in Grady (part of which extends into the county).
According to the state’s COVID-19 rapid-response database, two confirmed cases were reported Wednesday at Logan Municipal Schools. The district earlier in the week went to all-remote learning for its students after at least one COVID-19 case was found there.
A typical rapid response consists of isolating positive cases, quarantining close contacts for 14 days, ceasing operations to the extent necessary to isolate affected areas, disinfecting these areas, implementing safety procedures and resuming operations. Typically, operations are ceased for fewer than 24 hours before it is safe to reopen.
Earlier Thursday, the DOH announced two new public health emergency orders in response to the pandemic’s strain on state hospitals. One temporarily limits non-essential surgeries, and the other recognized the activation of “crisis care” standards by outlining credentialing processes for COVID-19 health care providers.
In the state, the DOH reported 1,791 cases on Thursday. The total number in New Mexico since the pandemic began rose to over 114,000.
A total of 23 deaths were reported Thursday in New Mexico, raising the total to 1,846.
A total of 917 people in the state were hospitalized with the disease Thursday, a slight decrease from the previous day.
The Amarillo area reported on Thursday more than 7,100 active cases of the disease, with a nearly 36% hospitalization rate. The number of active cases dropped by about 300 overnight.
In the U.S., more than 15.5 million confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported through Thursday since the pandemic began, with more than 291,000 deaths.