October 24, 2020

COVID-19 hits daily record in new cases, COVID-19 hospitalizations

On Saturday, state health officials reported more new cases than in any single day, setting a record for the third time in the last ten days, while the record number of hospitalizations continued to grow. The state Department of Health reported 875 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, far exceeding the previous record of 827 […]

Matthew Reichbach

On Saturday, state health officials reported more new cases than in any single day, setting a record for the third time in the last ten days, while the record number of hospitalizations continued to grow.

The state Department of Health reported 875 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, far exceeding the previous record of 827 newly reported cases set on Wednesday.

On Saturday, DOH also reported five additional deaths.

DOH also reported 264 hospitalizations for the virus, 35 more than reported on Friday. This could include those from out of state who are hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized for COVID-19. DOH has said in the past the number of those from out of state hospitalized in New Mexico is generally about the same number as New Mexicans who are hospitalized out of state.

As of Saturday, 80 percent of all general hospital beds were occupied and 76 percent of ICU beds. This includes those hospitalized for all reasons, not just COVID-19.

Bernalillo County continued to have the highest number of new cases, this time 251 cases. Bernalillo County now has had more than 10,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Doña Ana County reports 125 cases.

Lea County had the next-highest number of cases, with 51, followed by 48 in Santa Fe County, 47 in Chaves County, 42 in Sandoval County, 41 in Luna County, 34 in Otero County, 32 in McKinley County, 31 in San Juan County and 31 in Valencia County.

In all, 28 of the state’s 33 counties reported at least one new case of COVID-19.

The state also reported 27 cases among those held by the state Department of Corrections or federal agencies.

Across the New Mexico border in El Paso County, Texas, health officials reported 1,216 cases of COVID-19 and the El Paso Times reported that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott requested the use of William Beaumont Army Medical Center for treating non-COVID-19 patients.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a press conference this week that if cases continue to grow in New Mexico, the state could need field hospitals to treat patients.

DOH provided some details on the five new deaths related to COVID-19.

A male in his 50s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized.
A male in his 50s from Chaves County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 80s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
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.

The state has now found 41,040 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and reported 965 deaths related to the disease.

Of those cases, DOH has designated 20,765 as recovered, an increase of 100 since Friday’s announcement.

Testing details

The state coronavirus page said the state has processed 1,109,095 tests as of Saturday. This is 9,611 more than reported on Friday.

The test positivity rate among the newly reported tests is 9.1 percent. When calculating its gating criteria, the state uses the date of specimen collection, not the date the results are reported, to calculate its test positivity rate, which stood at 7 percent as of Oct. 22. This can lag because some labs take longer to process results and send those results to the state.

DOH provided the number of new cases by county on Saturday.

251 new cases in Bernalillo County
47 new cases in Chaves County
15 new cases in Cibola County
1 new case in Colfax County
20 new cases in Curry County
125 new cases in Doña Ana County
20 new cases in Eddy County
5 new cases in Grant County
1 new case in Guadalupe County
1 new case in Hidalgo County
51 new cases in Lea County
8 new cases in Lincoln County
1 new case in Los Alamos County
41 new cases in Luna County
32 new cases in McKinley County
34 new cases in Otero County
1 new case in Quay County
4 new cases in Rio Arriba County
6 new cases in Roosevelt County
42 new cases in Sandoval County
31 new cases in San Juan County
3 new cases in San Miguel County
48 new cases in Santa Fe County
7 new cases in Sierra County
9 new cases in Socorro County
10 new cases in Taos County
3 new cases in Torrance County
31 new cases in Valencia County
1 new case among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center
19 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
5 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Processing Center
2 new cases 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 those reported on Saturday.

The department identified two previously reported cases in Doña Ana County as duplicates and one previously reported case in Bernalillo County that was not lab confirmed. These have been corrected and removed from the totals.

Bernalillo County: 10,130
Catron County: 9
Chaves County: 1,921
Cibola County: 553
Colfax County: 44
Curry County: 1,471
De Baca County: 1
Doña Ana County: 5,421
Eddy County: 1,359
Grant County: 183
Guadalupe County: 41
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 113
Lea County: 2,017
Lincoln County: 357
Los Alamos County: 42
Luna County: 760
McKinley County: 4,571
Mora County: 14
Otero County: 471
Quay County: 99
Rio Arriba County: 480
Roosevelt County: 438
Sandoval County: 1,904
San Juan County: 3,719
San Miguel County: 162
Santa Fe County: 1,594
Sierra County: 96
Socorro County: 212
Taos County: 201
Torrance County: 98
Union County: 39
Valencia County: 891

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

Cibola County Correctional Center: 341
Otero County Prison Facility: 364
Otero County Processing Center: 186
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: 47
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 59 long-term care facilities, one more facility than reported on Friday: