October 17, 2020

577 new COVID-19 cases in NM, hospitalizations continue to increase

On Saturday, the state Department of Health reported 577 new cases of COVID-19, breaking the streak of three straight days with record-breaking numbers of cases, but still a number well above any number reported in New Mexico before this week. The department also said there was one additional death related to COVID-19. The number of […]

Matthew Reichbach

On Saturday, the state Department of Health reported 577 new cases of COVID-19, breaking the streak of three straight days with record-breaking numbers of cases, but still a number well above any number reported in New Mexico before this week.

The department also said there was one additional death related to COVID-19.

The number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 increased to 173, five more than reported on Friday, and the most since July 22. This could include those from other states who are hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized in other states.

Bernalillo County continued to have the most number of cases, with 191 reported on Saturday, followed by 98 in Doña Ana County, 36 in Eddy County and 35 in Curry County.

Four counties had between 20 and 29 cases: Santa Fe County (28), Sandoval County (24), Chaves County (24) and Luna County (21).

In all, 24 counties had at least one new confirmed case of COVID-19.

Additionally, DOH reported 21 new cases among inmates held by the state Department of Corrections at two facilities, 19 at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County and 2 among those at the Lea County Correctional Facility. These are not included in the county totals.

The one new death related to COVID-19 was a female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. DOH does not disclose which condition the person had, only if one was present before death.

In total, New Mexico has found 36,343 cases of COVID-19 and reported 929 deaths related to the disease.

The number of those designated as recovered increased by 240 to 19,853.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page said 1,046,727 tests have been processed as of Saturday, an increase of 10,876 tests since Friday. While New Mexico does not use the date tests are processed for its calculations of test positivity rate (instead, the state uses the date the tests are performed), Saturday’s announcement would translate to a 5.31 percent positivity rate.

DOH provided the total number of new cases by county.

191 new cases in Bernalillo County
24 new cases in Chaves County
3 new cases in Cibola County
35 new cases in Curry County
98 new cases in Doña Ana County
36 new cases in Eddy County
2 new cases in Grant County
15 new cases in Lea County
9 new cases in Lincoln County
21 new cases in Luna County
7 new cases in McKinley County
1 new case in Mora County
6 new cases in Otero County
6 new cases in Rio Arriba County
3 new cases Roosevelt County
24 new cases in Sandoval County
10 new cases in San Juan County
7 new cases in San Miguel County
28 new cases in Santa Fe County
1 new case in Sierra County
10 new cases in Socorro County
2 new cases in Taos County
2 new cases in Torrance County
15 new cases in Valencia County
2 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility
19 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County

DOH also reported the total number of cases by county, including those reported on Saturday.

DOH said three previously reported cases were identified as duplicates (two in Doña Ana County and one in Bernalillo County) and a previously reported case in Bernalillo County was identified as a duplicate. These were corrected and removed from the totals.

Bernalillo County: 8,794
Catron County: 9
Chaves County: 1,710
Cibola County: 490
Colfax County: 41
Curry County: 1,265
De Baca County: 1
Doña Ana County: 4,596
Eddy County: 1,161
Grant County: 161
Guadalupe County: 37
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 111
Lea County: 1,782
Lincoln County: 293
Los Alamos County: 37
Luna County: 579
McKinley County: 4,461
Mora County: 14
Otero County: 348
Quay County: 86
Rio Arriba County: 438
Roosevelt County: 377
Sandoval County: 1,688
San Juan County: 3,575
San Miguel County: 139
Santa Fe County: 1,340
Sierra County: 74
Socorro County: 165
Taos County: 167
Torrance County: 93
Union County: 38
Valencia County: 740

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

Cibola County Correctional Center: 329
Otero County Prison Facility: 333
Otero County Processing Center: 181
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: 40
Lea County Correctional Facility: 78
Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 5
Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
Otero County Prison Facility: 472
Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 44
Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 4

DOH has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at 47 long-term care facilities, two more than reported on Friday: