October 18, 2020

More than 400 new cases of COVID-19 in NM

The New Mexico Department of Health reported Sunday an additional 448 cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths related to the disease. The newly reported cases mark the second day of non-record breaking daily cases. The Sunday’s numbers are still significantly high compared to earlier this year, and are higher than any previous Sunday, which […]

Andy Lyman

The New Mexico Department of Health reported Sunday an additional 448 cases of COVID-19 and five more deaths related to the disease. The newly reported cases mark the second day of non-record breaking daily cases. The Sunday’s numbers are still significantly high compared to earlier this year, and are higher than any previous Sunday, which typically have lower totals.

According to state health officials, there are currently 171 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 19,894 have been deemed recovered.

Bernalillo County, the state’s most populous county, accounted for about 30 percent of the newly reported cases. Included in the new numbers are three new cases from two prison facilities that house federal detainees.

As of Sunday DOH reported a total of 1,054,891 people were tested for COVID-19.

The new cases by county are below.

151 new cases in Bernalillo County
26 new cases in Chaves County
5 new cases in Cibola County
9 new cases in Curry County
68 new cases in Doña Ana County
13 new cases in Eddy County
3 new cases in Grant County
26 new cases in Lea County
3 new cases in Lincoln County
1 new case in Los Alamos County
32 new cases in Luna County
6 new cases in McKinley County
2 new cases in Otero County
5 new cases in Rio Arriba County
3 new cases in Roosevelt County
31 new cases in Sandoval County
8 new cases in San Juan County
4 new cases in San Miguel County
28 new cases in Santa Fe County
1 new case in Sierra County
5 new cases in Socorro County
1 new case in Taos County
14 new cases in Valencia County
1 new case among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center
2 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility

The newly reported COVI-19 related deaths are below.

A female in her 70s from McKinley County who was hospitalized.
A female in her 60s from Rio Arriba County who had underlying conditions.
A female in her 90s from Sandoval County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Rio Rancho Center facility in Rio Rancho.
A male in his 80s from Santa Fe County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 30s from Socorro County who was hospitalized.

Bernalillo, besides reporting the most new cases, still has the most cumulative number of positive cases, followed by Doña Ana County. Both have surpassed McKinley and San Juan counties, which were marked by high numbers of cases in recent months. 4,891 1,054,8911,054,891

Bernalillo County: 8,943
Catron County: 9
Chaves County: 1,737
Cibola County: 495
Colfax County: 41
Curry County: 1,274
De Baca County: 1
Doña Ana County: 4,663
Eddy County: 1,173
Grant County: 164
Guadalupe County: 37
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 111
Lea County: 1,808
Lincoln County: 296
Los Alamos County: 38
Luna County: 611
McKinley County: 4,467
Mora County: 14
Otero County: 350
Quay County: 86
Rio Arriba County: 443
Roosevelt County: 380
Sandoval County: 1,719
San Juan County: 3,583
San Miguel County: 143
Santa Fe County: 1,368
Sierra County: 75
Socorro County: 170
Taos County: 168
Torrance County: 93
Union County: 38
Valencia County: 754

The two detention facilities that saw new cases of COVID-19 are Otero County Prison Facility and Cibola County Correctional Center. Both house federal detainees and both have reported significantly high numbers of COVID-19.

Below are the numbers of positive cases for detention centers which house federal inmates.

Cibola County Correctional Center: 330
Otero County Prison Facility: 335
Otero County Processing Center: 181
Torrance County Detention Facility: 44

The Otero County Prison Facility also houses state detainees and has also reported far more cases than other state facilities. Those numbers are below.

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

State health officials also reported that 48 long-term care facilities in the state have seen at least one case of COVID-19 in the past 28 days.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and state health officials continue to urge all New Mexicans to stay home except to go to work, run errands or for personal well-being. State officials also continue to urge everyone to wear a mask when in public.

Health officials also encourage anyone who has been in contact with someone who tested positive, to get tested themselves. Anyone showing signs of COVID-19, should call their health care provider or the DOH at 1-855-600-3453, officials said.

Symptoms of the disease can include fever, cough, shortness of breath, loss of taste or smell, chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, nausea, and congestion or a runny nose.