On Tuesday, state health officials reported seven additional deaths related to COVID-19 along with 82 new cases.
The most new cases reported by the state Department of Health were from Bernalillo County, 17, followed by McKinley County with 12. No other county reported double digit numbers of cases.
But the state reported another 4 cases in the Lea County Correctional Facility, a day after reporting 11 cases. COVID-19 cases have spread quickly throughout correctional facilities in New Mexico and in other states in the past.
The seven newly reported deaths came a day after DOH reported no additional deaths. The last time the department reported seven or more deaths in a single day was on September 1, when the state reported eight deaths related to COVID-19.
The state now has reported 26,923 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 830 deaths related to the disease.
The state provided some details on each of the newly reported deaths related to COVID-19.
- A male in his 40s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A female in her 70s from Luna County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A female in her 60s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A female in her 70s from Otero County who was hospitalized.
- A male in his 90s from Sandoval County who was a resident of the Rio Rancho Center facility in Rio Rancho.
- A male in his 70s from Santa Fe County who was hospitalized.
- A female in her 70s from Taos County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
DOH did not, as usual, say which underlying condition any of the people who died had, only if one was present.
The department said that, as of Tuesday, 59 individuals were hospitalized for COVID-19, a decrease of one person since Monday’s report.
Additionally, DOH reported 14,634 confirmed cases of COVID-19 are now designated as recovered, an increase of 164 people since Monday’s announcement.
Modeling update
The Department of Health’s modeling team released its weekly report on Tuesday.
Overall, the number of deaths continued to drop, with just 12 during the week ending September 5, the lowest since the earliest weeks of the pandemic in New Mexico.
The state’s r-effective, or rate of spread, remained at 0.9 as of September 13. This is the number of people, on average, that each infected individual will spread the disease to. Anything under 1 means the number of cases are falling. The rate of spread is at or below 1 in each of the state’s five regions, with the northwest having the lowest at 0.7 and the northeast and southeast each at 1.0, as of the state’s latest available numbers.
And all five regions have decreasing case counts on a 14-day rolling average, another positive sign for slowing the spread of the disease.
According to contact tracing information, travel remains the highest activity reported by those with confirmed cases of COVID-19, followed by attending large gatherings. These rose in the week ending Sept. 13, as did the number of cases reported among those who said they visited restaurants or breweries.
The state allowed limited indoor dining at restaurants and breweries on August 29.
Testing details
DOH announced 831,995 tests have been processed as of Tuesday, an increase of 5,376 since Monday’s announcement.
The state provided a breakdown of the newly reported cases by county, with the cases by correctional facility separated from the counties in which those facilities reside.
- 17 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 9 new cases in Chaves County
- 1 new case in Colfax County
- 2 new cases in Curry County
- 7 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 6 new cases in Eddy County
- 5 new cases in Lea County
- 1 new case in Lincoln County
- 5 new cases in Luna County
- 12 new cases in McKinley County
- 1 new case in Otero County
- 1 new case in Rio Arriba County
- 1 new case in Roosevelt County
- 5 new cases in Sandoval County
- 3 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 1 new case in Taos County
- 1 new case in Valencia County
- 4 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility
DOH also provided the total number of cases by county, including those reported on Tuesday.
One previously reported case in Lea County was not lab confirmed and was removed from the total.
- Bernalillo County: 6,093
- Catron County: 11
- Chaves County: 965
- Cibola County: 403
- Colfax County: 25
- Curry County: 727
- De Baca County: 1
- Doña Ana County: 3,038
- Eddy County: 631
- Grant County: 99
- Guadalupe County: 32
- Harding County: 2
- Hidalgo County: 98
- Lea County: 1,268
- Lincoln County: 178
- Los Alamos County: 29
- Luna County: 377
- McKinley County: 4,278
- Mora County: 7
- Otero County: 241
- Quay County: 69
- Rio Arriba County: 375
- Roosevelt County: 231
- Sandoval County: 1,297
- San Juan County: 3,233
- San Miguel County: 91
- Santa Fe County: 913
- Sierra County: 39
- Socorro County: 78
- Taos County: 125
- Torrance County: 64
- Union County: 31
- Valencia County: 533
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: 163
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 44
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: 31
- Lea County Correctional Facility: 19
- 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 38 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. That’s a decrease of four facilities since Monday.
