Serving the High Plains

County likely to remain turquoise again for week

Barring a last-minute outbreak, Quay County likely will remain in the turquoise zone — the highest attainable — for COVID-19 risk when the latest state assessments are announced Wednesday.

From March 23 through Friday, the county had recorded only two coronavirus cases. The county can tolerate up to 10 cases during a two-week assessment period and still be below the threshold of eight daily cases per 100,000 people.

The county’s test-positivity rate was estimated at 1.8% through Friday, well under the benchmark of 5%.

The state Department of Health did not report COVID-19 cases on Saturday or Sunday because of the Easter holiday.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began rose to 428, with eight deaths, through Friday.

The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code was 329 in Tucumcari, 61 in Logan, 10 in House, nine in McAlister, eight in San Jon, four in Nara Visa, three in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and three in Bard.

A total of 409 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Friday.

No COVID-19 rapid responses were reported in the county last week.

In New Mexico, a total of 218 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 192,000 since the pandemic began.

The state saw an uptick in its seven-day average of cases, rising to just above 200 mark. The gating criteria of 168.

Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising that total at 3,949.

A total of 94 people were hospitalized with the disease Friday. That number, which dropped below the 100 mark last week, continued to fall from its peak of more than 900 this winter.

The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 202 active cases of the disease with a 2.29% hospitalization rate. Both numbers have trended downward for weeks.

In the U.S., the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to more than 30.6 million, with more than 554,000 deaths, through Friday.