State health officials reported 154 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday, the second straight day the state reported over 150 cases of the disease.
Additionally, the state Department of Health reported five additional deaths related to COVID-19.
DOH has now found 27,350 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and reported 841 deaths related to the disease.
The most newly reported cases came out of Bernalillo County, with 30. Bernalillo County has by far the highest population of any county in the state.
Other counties with double-digit numbers of cases were Doña Ana County (17), Lea County (17), Eddy County (15) and Chaves County (13). While the raw numbers are lower in the southern New Mexico counties than Bernalillo County, the lower population means that these counties have a higher per capita number of cases. Lea County, for example, now has the fourth-most cases per capita, according to an Albuquerque Journal chart of reported cases. Lea County is narrowly behind Hidalgo County, a sparsely populated county in New Mexico’s bootheel which had a big spike in cases in mid-June but has reported just one case in September, on Thursday.
DOH provided some information on the five newly reported deaths related to COVID-19.
- A male in his 70s from Chaves County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell.
- A female in her 80s from Eddy County who had underlying conditions.
- A male in his 40s from McKinley County.
- A female in her 80s from McKinley County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup.
- A male in his 80s from San Juan County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of Broomfield Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.
As usual, DOH did not say which underlying condition any of the deceased had, only if one was present before they died.
The number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 increased to 72, three higher than reported on Thursday. This could include those from other locations who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized out of state.
This is also the first time the state reported more than 70 individuals hospitalized in the state in a week, since September 11.
The number of those designated by DOH as recovered from COVID-19 increased to 15,256, 150 more than in Thursday’s announcement.
Testing details
The state coronavirus information page said that the state has processed 850,963 tests as of Friday, an increase of 5,796 cases since Thursday. The state aims to conduct at least 5,000 tests per day.
The state provided the number of newly reported cases by county, with inmates and detainees held by the state Department of Corrections and federal agencies separated from the counties in which they reside.
- 30 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 13 new cases in Chaves County
- 1 new case in Colfax County
- 7 new cases in Curry County
- 17 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 15 new cases in Eddy County
- 9 new cases in Grant County
- 1 new case in Guadalupe County
- 17 new cases in Lea County
- 2 new cases in Los Alamos County
- 7 new cases in Luna County
- 2 new cases in McKinley County
- 2 new cases in Otero County
- 1 new case in Quay County
- 1 new case in Rio Arriba County
- 5 new cases in Roosevelt County
- 3 new cases in Sandoval County
- 2 new cases in San Juan County
- 2 new cases in San Miguel County
- 7 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 1 new case in Sierra County
- 1 new case in Taos County
- 7 new cases in Valencia County
- 1 new case among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County
DOH also provided the total number of cases by county, including the numbers reported on Friday. Three previously reported cases were identified as out-of-state residents, two in Bernalillo County and one in Cibola County, and were removed from the totals.
- Bernalillo County: 6,172
- Catron County: 9
- Chaves County: 1,004
- Cibola County: 404
- Colfax County: 27
- Curry County: 737
- De Baca County: 1
- Doña Ana County: 3,085
- Eddy County: 670
- Grant County: 109
- Guadalupe County: 34
- Harding County: 2
- Hidalgo County: 99
- Lea County: 1,316
- Lincoln County: 180
- Los Alamos County: 31
- Luna County: 395
- McKinley County: 4,290
- Mora County: 7
- Otero County: 245
- Quay County: 71
- Rio Arriba County: 382
- Roosevelt County: 258
- Sandoval County: 1,311
- San Juan County: 3,248
- San Miguel County: 93
- Santa Fe County: 939
- Sierra County: 41
- Socorro County: 82
- Taos County: 129
- Torrance County: 64
- Union County: 31
- Valencia County: 541
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 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: 33
- 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: 472
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
- Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 4
There are 34 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 one since Thursday.
