Serving the High Plains

Flu and RSV strain hospitals

Quay County and New Mexico continued to deal with spikes of flu and RSV cases, in addition to coronavirus.

Trigg Memorial Hospital in Tucumcari still was seeing a high number of cases of influenza.

“We continue to see higher than usual flu cases in our emergency department and clinic and are not yet seeing a downturn. We are also seeing some cases of RSV in our emergency department,” Trigg administrator Vickie Gutierrez stated in an email Thursday. “We continue to have a few COVID-19 patients.”

Because of the surge of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections, New Mexico Health Secretary David Scrase said during a briefing Thursday the state’s hospitals were edging close to Crisis Standards of Care status, where non-essential healthcare is rationed.

Scrase said it appeared the number of RSV cases in New Mexico had peaked since skyrocketing in November, but the severity of the illness in children remained high. He said a “chilling” number of children were on oxygen or ventilators because of the virus.

Scrase said New Mexico recently had the highest rate of influenza in the U.S., and rates in neighboring states were rising.

Dr. Anna Duran of UNM Children’s Hospital reported her facility was seeing more cases of flu, COVID-19 and pneumonia, with more children in intensive care.

Deputy Health Secretary Laura Parajon recommended residents get a flu shot. She said those who remain unvaccinated are more likely to become ill from the virus.

Schools in Clovis and Portales closed last week due to a high number of illnesses.

Tucumcari High School boys and girls basketball games scheduled for Friday against Bosque were postponed to Feb. 8 because of illnesses on the Bosque squad.

Scrase said COVID-19 cases in New Mexico were not trending downward as hoped. He said it appeared current coronavirus variants were more contagious but less lethal.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the county last week declined to 15 on Friday, compared to 22 during the previous week.

According to the COVID Act Now website, Quay County’s rate of new cases fell to 193.9 cases per 100,000 people last week, from 232.6 the previous week.

The website on Friday improved the county to “low” risk of community spread of the disease.

Neighboring De Baca County again had the worst rate of new infections in New Mexico, at 457.7 per 100,000 people. Two other neighboring counties, Guadalupe and Roosevelt, had the eighth and ninth-worst spread rate in the state.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began in spring 2020 grew to 2,468 by Friday.

The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Wednesday was 1,881 in Tucumcari, 358 in Logan, 112 in San Jon, 45 in House, 28 in McAlister, 21 in Nara Visa and 20 in Bard since the pandemic began more than two years ago.

New cases last week were reported in the Tucumcari and Logan ZIP codes.

No confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Quay County were reported last week, keeping the death toll at 69. No deaths have been reported in the county since late October.

A total of 703 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 652,000.

New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate declined to 606 by Friday. The rate was 764 the previous week.

A total of 193 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decline of nearly 40 from the previous week.

Six COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday. The pandemic’s overall toll stood at 8,742.

In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases rose for the sixth straight week. The total Friday jumped to 1,262, compared to 756 a week ago.

The disease has killed 1,312 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began more than two years ago. Two new deaths were reported there last week.

In the U.S., about 99.1 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.09 million deaths, on Saturday.

The state Department of Health on Thursday also announced Curative would halt its COVID-19 testing services nationwide, effective Dec. 28. The state will provide only free, at-home tests after that.

In response, the DOH and emergency managers in the state ordered 1 million at-home tests from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also, New Mexico residents can receive free, at-home tests by mail order through the Rockefeller Foundation’s Project Act program at accesscovidtests.org.

Tests also are available at many pharmacies and clinics and are covered by most insurance plans and Medicaid.

The New Mexico Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3, or by going to vaccinenm.org.

The Department of Health recommends COVID-19 drugs for those who have contracted the disease in its early stages and are at high risk for serious illness. These drugs are effective at preventing hospitalization and death but must be taken within days of the first symptom. More information on finding these treatments can be found at FindATreatmentNM.com.