October 12, 2020

Nearly 400 COVID-19 cases again in NM, as state hits another new daily average case high

The New Mexico Department of Health reported 389 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, moving the seven-day average on cases, by date they are reported, to 390. DOH also reported four additional deaths related to the disease. New Mexico’s cases have risen sharply in recent weeks, including two days of nearly 500 cases last week. […]

Matthew Reichbach

The New Mexico Department of Health reported 389 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, moving the seven-day average on cases, by date they are reported, to 390. DOH also reported four additional deaths related to the disease.

New Mexico’s cases have risen sharply in recent weeks, including two days of nearly 500 cases last week.

The average of 390 is by the date that tests are processed. When making its decisions, DOH focuses on the day that the tests are performed, which can lag because of the time it takes for some labs to process and report the results.

New Mexico also has now processed over one million COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.

Most of the newly reported cases came from either Bernalillo County (130) or Doña Ana County (83), which have both seen upticks in cases in recent weeks.

Eddy County, with 21, was the only other county with more than 20 cases. But Chaves County (19), Santa Fe County (19), Luna County (16), Curry County (13), San Juan County (12), McKinley County (11) all had double-digit numbers of cases.

DOH also reported cases among inmates or detainees at three facilities throughout the state; three among those being held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility, three among state Corrections Department inmates at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County and one among state Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility.

DOH has found 33,362 confirmed cases and 915 deaths related to the disease.

DOH provided some details on the four additional deaths.

A male in his 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 70s from Eddy County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. She was a resident of Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad.
A female in her 80s from Lincoln County who was hospitalized.

DOH said that there are now 127 individuals hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19. That’s an increase of seven people since Sunday’s announcement. These could include those from out of state who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized out of state.

The number New Mexicans designated as recovered by DOH reached 18,791, an increase of 111 since Sunday.

Testing details

The state crossed the one million test mark as of Monday, and has processed 1,002,906 tests. This is an increase of 5,533 tests since Sunday.

DOH provided the total number of newly reported cases by county, with state and federal inmates and detainees separated from the counties in which they reside.

130 new cases in Bernalillo County
19 new cases in Chaves County
13 new cases in Curry County
83 new cases in Doña Ana County
21 new cases in Eddy County
1 new case in Guadalupe County
13 new cases in Lea County
16 new cases in Luna County
11 new cases in McKinley County
6 new cases in Otero County
3 new cases in Rio Arriba County
16 new cases in Sandoval County
12 new cases in San Juan County
5 new cases in San Miguel County
19 new cases in Santa Fe County
3 new cases in Sierra County
6 new cases in Taos County
5 new cases in Valencia County
3 new cases among individuals being held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
3 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County
1 new case among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility

DOH also reported the total number of cases by county including those reported on Monday, with some corrections.

DOH identified four previously reported cases as duplicates (two in Bernalillo County, one in Roosevelt County and one in Santa Fe County county, four cases that were not previously lab-confirmed (two in Bernalillo County, one in Chaves county and one in Doña Ana County) and two cases that were identified as out-of-state residents (one in Doña Ana County and one in Luna County). These have been removed from the totals.