October 23, 2020

State hits new record for hospitalizations, crosses 40,000 confirmed cases

State health officials reported nearly 800 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the third-highest number of daily cases in the state so far during the pandemic and also hit a new high on hospitalizations for COVID-19. The state also reported seven additional deaths related to the disease. The state now has more than 40,000 confirmed cases […]

Matthew Reichbach

State health officials reported nearly 800 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the third-highest number of daily cases in the state so far during the pandemic and also hit a new high on hospitalizations for COVID-19. The state also reported seven additional deaths related to the disease.

The state now has more than 40,000 confirmed cases of the disease.

The 229 hospitalizations for COVID-19 in New Mexico, as announced by the state Department of Health, are the most on any one date so far during the pandemic, and 16 more than reported on Thursday. The previous high was 223 on May 15.

This could include those from other states who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized in other states. State health officials have said the number of those from other states hospitalized in New Mexico is generally about the same as the number of New Mexicans hospitalized in other states.

Overall, 77 percent of general beds are occupied, along with 76 percent of ICU beds. This is for all patients, not just COVID-19 patients.

The 797 confirmed cases were the third-most reported in a single day. The other two highest single-day totals took place in the last week.

Two counties had more than 100 cases, Bernalillo County (197) and Doña Ana County (130). Both counties have been experiencing large increases in cases in recent weeks; El Paso County in Texas, which borders Doña Ana County, has also been the site of a large increase in cases and reported 969 cases on Friday.

Two other New Mexico counties reported over fifty new cases: Santa Fe County with 56 and Curry County with 54. Lea County reported 40 new cases, followed by Eddy County with 37, Sandoval County with 37, Luna County with 32 and McKinley County with 32.

In all, 25 of the state’s 33 counties reported at least one new case on Friday.

DOH also reported 15 cases among those held by the state Department of Corrections or federal agencies.

DOH provided some information on each of the seven newly announced deaths.

A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized.
A female in her 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 70s from Eddy County who had underlying conditions.
A male in his 70s from Eddy County who had underlying conditions.
A male in his 60s from Lincoln County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 70s from Sandoval County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 40s from San Juan County who had underlying conditions.

As usual, DOH did not disclose which underlying conditions any of the deceased had, only if one was present. According to the latest state epidemiology report, the most common underlying condition among those who have died in New Mexico so far is cardiovascular disease, followed by diabetes and hypertension. Some who have died had multiple conditions.

In all, DOH has reported 40,168 cases of COVID-19, with 960 deaths related to the disease.

Of the confirmed cases, DOH has designated 20,665 as recovered, an increase of 103 since Thursday’s announcement.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page said 1,099,484 tests have been processed in the state, an increase of 10,334 since Thursday.

While DOH does not use the test positivity rate from the date tests results are reported, instead using the date the specimens are collected, the test positivity rate of today’s reports is 7.71 percent.

DOH provided the total number of newly reported cases by county.

197 new cases in Bernalillo County
28 new cases in Chaves County
6 new cases in Cibola County
1 new case in Colfax County
54 new cases in Curry County
130 new cases in Doña Ana County
37 new cases in Eddy County
6 new cases in Grant County
1 new case in Guadalupe County
40 new cases in Lea County
13 new cases in Lincoln County
32 new cases in Luna County
32 new cases in McKinley County
19 new cases in Otero County
3 new cases in Quay County
12 new cases in Rio Arriba County
15 new cases in Roosevelt County
37 new cases in Sandoval County
14 new cases in San Juan County
6 new cases in San Miguel County
56 new cases in Santa Fe County
6 new cases in Socorro County
10 new cases in Taos County
1 new case in Torrance County
26 new cases in Valencia County
3 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
1 new case among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County
3 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility
8 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County

Additionally, DOH reported the total number of confirmed cases by county since the beginning of the pandemic, including those reported on Friday.

DOH identified four previously reported cases as duplicates (three in Doña Ana County and one in McKinley County) and two that were not lab confirmed (one in McKinley County and one in Taos County). These have been corrected and removed from the totals.

Bernalillo County: 9,880
Catron County: 9
Chaves County: 1,874
Cibola County: 538
Colfax County: 43
Curry County: 1,451
De Baca County: 1
Doña Ana County: 5,298
Eddy County: 1,339
Grant County: 178
Guadalupe County: 40
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 112
Lea County: 1,966
Lincoln County: 349
Los Alamos County: 41
Luna County: 719
McKinley County: 4,539
Mora County: 14
Otero County: 437
Quay County: 98
Rio Arriba County: 476
Roosevelt County: 432
Sandoval County: 1,862
San Juan County: 3,688
San Miguel County: 159
Santa Fe County: 1,546
Sierra County: 89
Socorro County: 203
Taos County: 191
Torrance County: 95
Union County: 39
Valencia County: 860

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

Cibola County Correctional Center: 340
Otero County Prison Facility: 345
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: 45
Lea County Correctional Facility: 109
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: 54
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 58long-term care facilities, one more facility than reported on Thursday: