August 8, 2020

New COVID-19 cases at 155, continuing decline; six additional deaths

The state Department of Health announced 155 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and six additional deaths related to the disease. The number of cases continued the downward trend of cases in the state. The 155 new cases represented 2.13 percent of the 7,274 tests reported since Friday—another good piece of news in a key […]

Matthew Reichbach

The state Department of Health announced 155 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and six additional deaths related to the disease.

The number of cases continued the downward trend of cases in the state.

The 155 new cases represented 2.13 percent of the 7,274 tests reported since Friday—another good piece of news in a key metric tracked by the state. The state seeks to keep the positivity rate, or the percentage of those who test positive out of the total tests, under five percent on a seven-day rolling average.

Bernalillo County had the highest number of new cases, with 34. Bernalillo County has by far the most residents of any county. Four other counties had double-digit numbers of new cases: Doña Ana County with 21; Chaves County with 16; Lea County with 11; and Santa Fe County with 11.

With the newly reported cases, the state now has 22,115 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The number of deaths continues to increase with DOH reporting six additional deaths related to the disease.

A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of The Rio at Las Estancias facility in Albuquerque.
A male in his 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a patient at Encompass Health Rehabilitation in Albuquerque.
A female in her 60s from Cibola County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 60s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 80s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A female in her 60s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

DOH, as usual, did not disclose which underlying conditions any of the deceased had, only if one was present.

With the newly reported deaths, the state has now reported 681 deaths related to the disease.

The number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 dropped by five cases since Friday’s report to 132. This could include people from out-of-state who are hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico, but would not include those from New Mexico who are hospitalized out of state.

DOH also announced that 9,262 confirmed cases are now designated as recovered, an increase of 96 over Friday.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page said that the state has reports 620,128 total tests, an increase of 7,274 over Friday’s announcement. New Mexico remains near the top of the total tests per capita, behind only Alaska, Rhode Island, New York, Louisiana and Washington D.C.

The state also announced the number of newly reported cases by county.

34 new cases in Bernalillo County
16 new cases in Chaves County
1 new case in Colfax County
8 new cases in Curry County
21 new cases in Doña Ana County
9 new cases in Eddy County
1 new case in Hidalgo County
11 new cases in Lea County
7 new cases in Lincoln County
1 new case in Los Alamos County
6 new cases in Luna County
6 new cases in McKinley County
1 new case in Otero County
3 new cases in Rio Arriba County
1 new case in Roosevelt County
4 new cases in San Juan County
1 new case in San Miguel County
11 new cases in Santa Fe County
1 new case in Sierra County
1 new case in Socorro County
2 new cases in Taos County
2 new cases in Valencia County
7 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center

Additionally, the state provided the total number of cases by county, including those reported on Friday.

Four previously reported cases (two in each of Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties) were found to be duplicates, while one case in San Juan County was identified as an out-of-state resident. They have been removed from the totals.

Bernalillo County: 5,089
Catron County: 5
Chaves County: 435
Cibola County: 362
Colfax County: 18
Curry County: 541
Doña Ana County: 2,417
Eddy County: 293
Grant County: 71
Guadalupe County: 31
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 90
Lea County: 751
Lincoln County: 125
Los Alamos County: 21
Luna County: 247
McKinley County: 4,043
Mora County: 6
Otero County: 201
Quay County: 34
Rio Arriba County: 316
Roosevelt County: 161
Sandoval County: 1,126
San Juan County: 3,040
San Miguel County: 43
Santa Fe County: 637
Sierra County: 32
Socorro County: 73
Taos County: 108
Torrance County: 61
Union County: 29
Valencia County: 406

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

Cibola County Correctional Center: 313
Otero County Prison Facility: 280
Otero County Processing Center: 159
Torrance County Detention Facility: 43

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: 25
Lea County Correctional Facility: 4
Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 1
Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
Otero County Prison Facility: 472
Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 3

There are 52 long-term or acute care facilities with at least one staff or resident who tested positive for the disease within the last 28 days, according to DOH.