The drop in reported cases of COVID-19 continued on Tuesday, when the state Department of Health announced 69 cases.
But the state also hit the 750 mark of deaths related to the disease after reporting three additional deaths.
The state now has 24,535 total confirmed cases of COVID-19.
Only one county—Bernalillo County, which has by far the most amount of residents—reported double-digit numbers of cases.
The state provided some details on the three newly reported deaths related to COVID-19.
- A male in his 50s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions.
- A male in his 70s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Good Samaritan Society facility in Las Cruces.
- A female in her 60s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
The number of those hospitalized remained in the 60s, and dropped to 64, four people lower than the update on Monday. The number of hospitalizations has been in the 60s for five days, after remaining over 100, and sometimes 200, from April 19 to August 18. These numbers could include people from outside the state who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexico residents who are hospitalized in other states.
The number of those designated as recovered by DOH reached 11,909, 241 more than the department’s Monday announcement.
Modeling update
The DOH weekly modeling update showed a drop in COVID-19 prevalence statewide and in most regions. In the week ending August 16, the state found 7.4 new cases per 100,000 population; this dropped to 6.6 new cases per 100,000 in the week ending August 23. These numbers excluded inmates and detainees in state and federal corrections and detention centers.
However, modeling from Presbyterian Health Services as of August 23 found that the R-effective, or the average number of people someone with COVID-19 will spread it to, rose to 1.0. This is still under the state’s gating criteria of 1.05, but means that the spread of cases is no longer decreasing, and is instead treading water.
The R-effective is above 1, which means cases are increasing, in the northwestern (1.1), northeastern (1.3) and metro (1.2) areas of the state, while it is under 1 in the southeast (0.9) and southwest (0.6).
After peaking in July, the number of deaths also has dropped in August, back to levels closer to June.
Testing details
The state of New Mexico reported 728,627 tests as of Tuesday, according to its coronavirus information page. This is 4,526 fewer tests than Monday.
The state aims to test 5,000 individuals daily on a seven-day rolling average, and the date that tests are reported is not the same date as tests results are reported.
The COVID Tracking Project has seen a nationwide decline in tests reported over the last week. And the peak number of tests occurred in late July and early August. State officials, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, have said in the past that it is increasingly difficult to obtain testing supplies.
DOH reported the number of newly reported cases by county.
- 14 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 2 new cases in Chaves County
- 1 new case in Cibola County
- 5 new cases in Curry County
- 7 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 7 new cases in Eddy County
- 4 new cases in Lea County
- 6 new cases in McKinley County
- 1 new case in Otero County
- 2 new cases in Rio Arriba County
- 3 new cases in Sandoval County
- 9 new cases in San Juan County
- 5 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 1 new case in Valencia County
- 2 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County
The department also reported the total number of cases by county, including the cases reported on Tuesday.
DOH said one previously reported case in Valencia County was identified as a duplicate and two previously reported cases, one in Lea County and one in McKinley County, were not lab confirmed. These have been removed from the totals.
- Bernalillo County: 5,633
- Catron County: 5
- Chaves County: 627
- Cibola County: 393
- Colfax County: 19
- Curry County: 645
- Doña Ana County: 2,733
- Eddy County: 433
- Grant County: 76
- Guadalupe County: 33
- Harding County: 2
- Hidalgo County: 93
- Lea County: 1,048
- Lincoln County: 164
- Los Alamos County: 24
- Luna County: 273
- McKinley County: 4,164
- Mora County: 6
- Otero County: 217
- Quay County: 60
- Rio Arriba County: 349
- Roosevelt County: 191
- Sandoval County: 1,202
- San Juan County: 3,158
- San Miguel County: 67
- Santa Fe County: 785
- Sierra County: 37
- Socorro County: 76
- Taos County: 116
- Torrance County: 63
- Union County: 31
- Valencia County: 494
DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the following facilities:
- Cibola County Correctional Center: 324
- Otero County Prison Facility: 280
- Otero County Processing Center: 159
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 44
DOH also 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: 28
- Lea County Correctional Facility: 4
- Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 1
- Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
- Otero County Prison Facility: 472
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
- Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 4
There are 51 acute care or long-term care facilities with at least one staff or resident who tested positive for the disease within the last 28 days, according to DOH. This is a decrease of four facilities from Monday’s announcement.
