November 3, 2020

NM hits another daily high in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations

State health officials reported a record-high number of COVID-19 cases in New Mexico, with 1,141 new cases. The state Department of Health also reported nine additional deaths related to the disease and hospitalizations for COVID-19 continued to grow. Doña Ana County had the most newly reported cases on Tuesday, with 270, followed by Bernalillo County […]

Matthew Reichbach

State health officials reported a record-high number of COVID-19 cases in New Mexico, with 1,141 new cases. The state Department of Health also reported nine additional deaths related to the disease and hospitalizations for COVID-19 continued to grow.

Doña Ana County had the most newly reported cases on Tuesday, with 270, followed by Bernalillo County with 262 and Chaves County with 108. Other counties with more than 30 new cases were Santa Fe County (97), Lea County (85), Sandoval County (37) and Luna County (36).

In all, 27 of the state’s 33 counties reported at least one case.

The state also reported 37 new cases among state Corrections Department inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 reached 401 on Tuesday, another new record, 19 more than reported on Monday. The state had never had more than 300 individuals hospitalized for the disease until Oct. 27.

The numbers could include those from other states who were hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized in other states. State health officials have said the numbers generally balance out.

DOH said 76 percent of general beds and 67 percent of ICU beds are occupied in New Mexico. This includes hospitalizations for all reasons, not just COVID-19.

DOH released some details on the nine individuals with COVID-19-related deaths.

A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of the South Valley Care Center facility in Albuquerque.
A female in her 80s from Chaves County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 50s from Cibola County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 70s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Adobe Assisted Living facility in Las Cruces.
A male in his 40s from Lea County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 30s from Otero County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 70s from Otero County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 90s from Santa Fe County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of the Kingston Residence of Santa Fe facility.
A female in her 50s from Socorro County who was hospitalized and 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.

DOH has found 49,240 cases of COVID-19 and reported 1,045 deaths related to the disease.

Of the total confirmed cases, 21,942 are designated as recovered, an increase of 157 since Monday.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page said 1,202,347 tests had been processed as of Tuesday, an increase of 11,020 since Monday’s announcement.

The 1,141 confirmed positive cases represent 10.35 percent of all tests with results reported on Tuesday.

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

262 new cases in Bernalillo County
108 new cases in Chaves County
19 new cases in Cibola County
2 new cases in Colfax County
27 new cases in Curry County
270 new cases in Doña Ana County
19 new cases in Eddy County
6 new cases in Grant County
85 new cases in Lea County
7 new cases in Lincoln County
3 new cases in Los Alamos County
36 new cases in Luna County
23 new cases in McKinley County
11 new cases in Otero County
1 new case in Quay County
9 new cases in Rio Arriba County
19 new cases in Roosevelt County
37 new cases in Sandoval County
24 new cases in San Juan County
3 new cases in San Miguel County
97 new cases in Santa Fe County
1 new case in Sierra County
4 new cases in Socorro County
1 new case in Taos County
1 new case in Torrance County
1 new case in Union County
24 new cases in Valencia County
4 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County
37 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County

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

The department identified three previously reported cases as duplicates (one in each of Bernalillo, Chaves and Cibola counties) and two cases as out-of-state residents (one in Bernalillo County and one in San Juan County). These have been corrected and removed from the totals.

Bernalillo County: 12,362
Catron County: 10
Chaves County: 2,287
Cibola County: 694
Colfax County: 48
Curry County: 1,730
De Baca County: 3
Doña Ana County: 7,299
Eddy County: 1,610
Grant County: 215
Guadalupe County: 47
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 127
Lea County: 2,318
Lincoln County: 405
Los Alamos County: 53
Luna County: 1,215
McKinley County: 4,822
Mora County: 15
Otero County: 589
Quay County: 114
Rio Arriba County: 558
Roosevelt County: 532
Sandoval County: 2,202
San Juan County: 3,914
San Miguel County: 203
Santa Fe County: 2,058
Sierra County: 138
Socorro County: 282
Taos County: 273
Torrance County: 120
Union County: 46
Valencia County: 1,120

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

Cibola County Correctional Center: 348
Otero County Prison Facility: 396
Otero County Processing Center: 191
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: 155
Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 1
Lea County Correctional Facility: 112
Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 9
Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
Otero County Prison Facility: 472
Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 41
Roswell Correctional Center: 1
Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 55
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 in 78 long-term care facilities, an increase of four over Monday.