July 27, 2020

State hits new high of COVID-19 cases, led by Cibola County Correctional Center

New Mexico health officials announced 467 new cases of COVID-19, by far the most in a single day—with 170 coming from the Cibola County Correctional Center. 

The report also showed continued growth in southern and eastern New Mexico.

The previous record for New Mexico was 338 confirmed cases set just last week, on July 23. Now, New Mexico had its first day of more than 400 cases.

The state also announced five additional deaths.

In total, the state now has 19,502 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 619 deaths related to the disease.

The 170 cases at the Cibola County Correctional Center were among those held by federal agencies. The detention center is privately run and holds detainees for the U.S. Marshals Service and U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement in addition to Cibola County.

Additionally, Doña Ana County reported 76 new cases, the third-most in a single day for the county.

The state announced 62 new cases in Bernalillo County, by far the state’s most populous county.

Otero County’s 21 newly reported cases represented a record in a single day—nearly double the previous number of 11 reported on July 24.

The 467 new cases represented 5.7 percent of the 8,172 tests processed since Sunday.

DOH reported some details on each of those who died.

  • A female in her 60s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of the Sandia Ridge Center facility in Albuquerque.
  • A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of the Montebello on Academy facility in Albuquerque.
  • A female in her 100s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Good Samaritan Society facility in Las Cruces.
  • A male in his 50s from Lea County who was hospitalized.
  • A male in his 60s from McKinley County who was hospitalized.

The state did not announce which underlying condition each person had, only if one was present.

Additionally, DOH said that, as of Monday, 159 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico. That’s an increase of 15 over Sunday’s total. The number could include out-of-state residents who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexico residents who are hospitalized out-of-state.

The state also announced that 7,549 people are now designated as recovered from COVID-19, an increase of 200 over Sunday’s announcement.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page says the state has processed 528,890 tests, an increase of 8,172 over Sunday’s total. This is the eighth day the state has processed over 8,000 tests, including the second day in a row. 

In addition to the continued growth in Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties and the record number of cases in Otero County, DOH reported 25 new cases in Lea County—the ninth day of 20 or more cases including five in the last seven days—and 16 new cases in Curry County. 

Cases continue to grow throughout southern and eastern New Mexico.

  • 62 new cases in Bernalillo County
  • 2 new cases in Chaves County
  • 8 new cases in Cibola County
  • 1 new case in Colfax County
  • 16 new cases in Curry County
  • 76 new cases in Doña Ana County
  • 4 new cases in Eddy County
  • 1 new case in Grant County
  • 25 new cases in Lea County
  • 1 new case in Los Alamos County
  • 7 new cases in Luna County
  • 13 new cases in McKinley County
  • 21 new cases in Otero County 
  • 6 new cases in Rio Arriba County
  • 7 new cases in Roosevelt County
  • 9 new cases in Sandoval County
  • 12 new cases in San Juan County
  • 12 new cases in Santa Fe County
  • 2 new cases in Taos County
  • 4 new cases in Torrance County
  • 6 new cases in Valencia County
  • 170 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center
  • 2 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility

The state also released the number of total cases by county, including Monday’s cases.

DOH found four previously reported cases were duplicates (two in Lea County, one in Bernalillo County and one in McKinley County) and five cases were discovered to be out-of-state residents (two in Bernalillo County, one in Doña Ana County, one in Grant County and one in San Juan County) and have been removed from the totals. Meanwhile, one case in each of Bernalillo County and Chaves County that were previously thought to be out-of-state residents have since been determined to be residents of New Mexico, and the numbers were added to the totals.

  • Bernalillo County: 4,466
  • Catron County: 4
  • Chaves County: 270
  • Cibola County: 302
  • Colfax County: 13
  • Curry County: 395
  • Doña Ana County: 2,064
  • Eddy County: 225
  • Grant County: 63
  • Guadalupe County: 29
  • Harding County: 1
  • Hidalgo County: 85
  • Lea County: 546
  • Lincoln County: 75
  • Los Alamos County: 17
  • Luna County: 197
  • McKinley County: 3,921
  • Mora County: 6
  • Otero County: 168
  • Quay County: 31
  • Rio Arriba County: 280
  • Roosevelt County: 117
  • Sandoval County: 1,018
  • San Juan County: 2,926
  • San Miguel County: 39
  • Santa Fe County: 510
  • Sierra County: 26
  • Socorro County: 71
  • Taos County: 86
  • Torrance County: 56
  • Union County: 23
  • Valencia County: 319

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the following facilities:

  • Cibola County Correctional Center: 175
  • Otero County Prison Facility: 277
  • Otero County Processing Center: 159
  • Torrance County Detention Facility: 43

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by the New Mexico Corrections Department at the following facilities:

  • Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 24
  • Lea County Correctional Facility: 2
  • Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility: 1
  • Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
  • Otero County Prison Facility: 469
  • Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
  • Western New Mexico Correctional Facility: 1

DOH also reported that they have found at least one positive case in at least 43 acute care or long-term care facilities in the last 28 days, unchanged from Sunday’s announcement.

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