Three more COVID-19 deaths reported

Three more COVID-19 deaths were reported last week in Quay County by state officials, raising the toll to 31 since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020.

The latest victims, according to the New Mexico Department of Health:

• A woman in her 70s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions;

• A man in his 70s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions;

• A man in his 70s who had underlying conditions.

Two of the deaths were reported Thursday, and another was reported Wednesday.

The Department of Health on Friday did not issue a report due to the New Year’s holiday.

Twenty-three deaths have occurred in the county since late May.

A total of 56 new cases of the virus were reported in the county last week. A total of 31 was reported the previous week.

As recently as early December, the county’s weekly case numbers previously were in the 90 to 100 range.

According to epidemiology reports, Quay County recorded a COVID-19 case rate of 64.7 new cases per 100,000 people from Dec. 14 to Dec. 27, a sharp drop from the previous week’s level of more than 100.

The county dropped from the second-worst rate in New Mexico to the sixth-worst. Quay County had been the state’s worst county in community spread for several weeks.

The county also recorded a test-positivity rate of 19.64%, falling slightly.

Neighboring De Baca County remained the worst in New Mexico in community spread, with a rate of 81.5 per 100,000 people. Union County was third-worst and Roosevelt County fifth-worst.

The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 1,577 by Thursday.

Most of last week’s cases were reported in the Tucumcari or Logan ZIP codes.

The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,194 in Tucumcari, 249 in Logan, 66 in San Jon, 21 in House, 16 in McAlister, 15 in Bard and 12 in Nara Visa.

A total of 1,278 people in the county were deemed by the DOH to have recovered from the virus.

These COVID-19 rapid responses in the county were reported last week:

• Del’s Restaurant, Tucumcari, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Napa Auto Parts, Tucumcari, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Glenrio Welcome Center, Glenrio, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Tucumcari Public Schools, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Tucumcari Police Department, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Bob’s Upholstery, Tucumcari, one case reported Dec. 23;

• Tucumcari Middle School, one case reported Dec. 23;

• 10th Judicial District, Tucumcari, one case reported Dec. 27;

• Versatile Construction, Logan, one case reported Dec. 28.

A typical rapid response consists of isolating positive cases, quarantining close contacts, 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 2,209 new COVID-19 cases were reported Thursday, raising the total to more than 350,000 since the pandemic began.

Twenty-six COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Thursday, raising the total to 5,855.

A total of 514 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Thursday, a decrease of 32 from the previous week.

The Amarillo metro region on Thursday totaled 3,404 active cases of the disease, a decrease of more than 400 from the previous week, with a hospitalization rate of more than 20%.

The active-case count in the metro was about 300 earlier this summer.

The disease has killed more than 1,000 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 54.8 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 825,000 deaths, through Friday.

Vaccinations

The Quay County Family Health Center has scheduled another mass-vaccination event on Jan. 13 at the Quay County Fairgrounds Exposition Building from 8:30 to 11 a.m. and from noon to 2 p.m. During a previous vaccination event in mid-December, more than 200 were vaccinated.

According to state data through Friday, 51.4% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 0.4% from the previous week.

About 58.3% of county residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.8% from the previous week.

In New Mexico, 75.8% of eligible residents had been fully vaccinated by Friday, with 88.8% receiving at least one dose of vaccine.

Residents still can schedule vaccinations through the state’s registration portal at VaccineNM.org. Parents can sign up children over age 5 for vaccinations at the state’s portal at vaccineNM.org/kids or their health provider.

The Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3.

New Mexico residents age 18 and over also may now schedule a booster shot if:

• They received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine more than two months ago, or;

• They completed the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine series more than six months ago.

In the past 30 days, more than 80% of the COVID-19 deaths in New Mexico have occurred with the unvaccinated.