Serving the High Plains
Quay County remained in a low ebb of coronavirus cases, totaling four in the past week.
Three cases were reported the previous week.
The latest case Sunday — a man age 6o to 69 — was reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code.
The county’s overall total rose to 420 since the pandemic began last spring, with eight deaths.
The breakdown by ZIP code through Sunday was 326 in Tucumcari, 59 in Logan, 10 in House, eight in McAlister, eight in San Jon, four in Nara Visa, three in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and two in Bard.
A total of 353 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Sunday.
A COVID-19 rapid response was referred to Tucumcari Public Schools last week because of one confirmed case of the virus reported Thursday.
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.
In New Mexico, a total of 245 new COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday, bringing the overall total to more than 185,000 since the pandemic began.
The state saw a rise in the seven-day average of cases in the past week, mostly fueled by 659 reported on Friday. The average, however, remained under the 400 mark.
The state remains well above the gating criteria of 168 cases in a seven-day average.
A total of 16 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Sunday, increasing that total to 3,716.
A total of 192 people were hospitalized with the disease Sunday, the first time in months the number had been that low. That number has continued a downward trend from a peak of more than 900 earlier this winter.
The Amarillo metro region on Friday, the latest day available, totaled 760 active cases of the disease with a 5,75% hospitalization rate. Both numbers have shown a downward trend for weeks.
In the U.S., the total number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 28.6 million, with more than 513,000 deaths, through Sunday.