August 31, 2020

DOH: 73 additional COVID-19 cases, nine additional deaths

Andy Lyman

State health officials announced 73 additional cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths related to the disease. 

Officials also reported the latest performance on key gating criteria on Monday, showing New Mexico meeting, in some cases narrowly, most of the criteria put forward by the state.

The nine deaths related to COVID-19 was the fourth time this month that the state Department of Health reported nine new deaths in a single day, including a day late last week.

The state now has 25,352 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 779 deaths related to the disease.

Bernalillo County was the lone county with a double-digit number of new cases, with 17.

The state provided some details on each of the deaths related to COVID-19.

  • A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized.
  • A male in his 50s from Curry County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
  • A female in her 40s from Doña Ana County.
  • A female in her 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
  • A female in her 80s from Hidalgo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
  • A female in her 70s from Lea County who was hospitalized.
  • A male in his 70s from Rio Arriba County who had underlying conditions.
  • A female in her 70s from San Juan County who was hospitalized.
  • A male in his 70s from Taos County who was hospitalized.

The state does not disclose which underlying condition any individual had, only if one was present.

DOH reported a total of 65 individuals are hospitalized for COVID-19, a decrease of one since Sunday. This could include those from out of state who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexico residents who are hospitalized out of state for COVID-19.

The total number of those designated as recovered from COVID-19 by DOH is now 12,960, an increase of 47 since Sunday.

Gating criteria

The state updates most gating criteria on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

In Monday’s update, New Mexico now again narrowly meets its gating criteria regarding the spread rate, after falling out of compliance on Friday.

The spread rate as of August 30, the most recent day where there is data, at 1.04, on a ten-day rolling average. The goal is 1.05 or fewer. 

The rate of spread is how many people each person with COVID-19 will spread the disease to, on average. While the statewide rate of spread has hit the goal, it remains higher than the goal in two regions, Northwest (1.15) and the Albuquerque Metro area (1.1).

The average number of cases on a seven-day rolling average, by the date the test was performed, is at 122 as of August 23, the last day for which full numbers are available. The state’s goal is to keep the number of new cases at or below 168 per day on average.

One area where the state is dropping down is on the number of tests per day on a seven-day rolling average. The state remains above its goal of at least 5,000 tests per day, but the number fell to 5,376 as of August 29—the lowest average since late June.

The state’s positivity rate on a seven-day rolling average increased slightly to 2.3 percent as of August 28. This is still well below the state’s goal of keeping this at 5 percent or less.

Other criteria regarding contact tracing and health care system supplies and capacity are updated weekly, on Tuesdays.

Testing details

As of Monday, the state announced 760,874 tests had been processed, an increase of 3,941 since Sunday. This is the lowest one-day total of newly reported tests since August 3, when DOH reported partial results due to a “technical disruption of the electronic laboratory system.”

The state provided the number of newly reported cases by county.

  • 17 new cases in Bernalillo County
  • 6 new cases in Chaves County
  • 1 new case in Cibola County
  • 1 new case in Curry County
  • 8 new cases in Doña Ana County
  • 6 new cases in Eddy County
  • 3 new cases in Grant County
  • 1 new case in Hidalgo County
  • 4 new cases in Lea County
  • 1 new case in Lincoln County
  • 1 new case in Luna County
  • 8 new cases in McKinley County
  • 1 new case in Quay County
  • 1 new case in Sandoval County
  • 6 new cases in San Juan County
  • 3 new cases in San Miguel County
  • 3 new cases in Santa Fe County
  • 2 new cases in Valencia County

DOH also provided the total number of cases, including those reported on Monday.

The department said three previously reported cases (one in each of Bernalillo, Chaves and San Juan counties) were identified as duplicates, while one previously reported case attributed to Bernalillo County was identified as an out-of-state resident. These have been removed from the totals.

  • Bernalillo County: 5,809
  • Catron County: 5
  • Chaves County: 727
  • Cibola County: 398
  • Colfax County: 19
  • Curry County: 672
  • Doña Ana County: 2,827
  • Eddy County: 492
  • Grant County: 82
  • Guadalupe County: 32
  • Harding County: 2
  • Hidalgo County: 98
  • Lea County: 1,131
  • Lincoln County: 169
  • Los Alamos County: 27
  • Luna County: 316
  • McKinley County: 4,203
  • Mora County: 6
  • Otero County: 218
  • Quay County: 63
  • Rio Arriba County: 358
  • Roosevelt County: 201
  • Sandoval County: 1,247
  • San Juan County: 3,192
  • San Miguel County: 81
  • Santa Fe County: 821
  • Sierra County: 37
  • Socorro County: 77
  • Taos County: 115
  • Torrance County: 63
  • Union County: 31
  • Valencia County: 513

County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.

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: 281
  • 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: 473
  • Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
  • Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 4

There are 53 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 the same number of facilities as Sunday.

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