Serving the High Plains

County's new COVID-19 cases total one

Just one confirmed case of coronavirus was reported in Quay County last week, down from three during the previous week.

Last week’s sole case brought the total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began to 2,565.

Quay County has reported weekly single-digit numbers of COVID-19 for much of the winter.

According to the COVID Act Now website that tracks the disease, the county’s rate of new cases dropped to a low level of 36.4 cases per 100,000 people. That compared to 84.8 the previous week.

Quay County’s risk of community spread of COVID-19 remained at a “low” level. All New Mexico counties also were low risk except San Juan, which was at medium risk.

The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,948 in Tucumcari, 377 in Logan, 119 in San Jon, 47 in House, 30 in McAlister, 21 in Nara Visa and 20 in Bard since the pandemic began almost three years ago.

The one case in the county last week was reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code.

No confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Quay County were reported last week, keeping the death toll at 70 since the pandemic began nearly three years ago. The most recent death was reported in late December.A total of 242 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 650,000.

New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate rose slightly last week, from 177 to 182.

A total of 93 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an increase of 20 from the previous week.

Six COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday. The pandemic’s overall toll rose to 9,084 during the week.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has announced she would let her COVID-19 executive order expire at the end of this month — ending three years of such orders since the pandemic began in early 2020.

In late January, the Biden Administration announced it planned to end its COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11. It had been in place since early 2020.

In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases declined again last week. The total Friday fell to 990, compared to 1,248 a week ago.

The disease has killed 1,338 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 103 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.12 million deaths, through Saturday.

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

The DOH recommends COVID-19 drugs for those who have contracted the disease in its early stages and are at 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.