June 16, 2020

COVID-19 in NM: 88 new cases, 7 new deaths; hospitalizations continue to drop

The state Department of Health announced 88 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths related to the disease on Monday. The state processed fewer tests than average, but not an unusually small announcement, 3,632. Not including Tuesday, DOH has averaged just over 4,320 tests processed daily since the beginning of June. The new cases […]

Matthew Reichbach

The state Department of Health announced 88 new cases of COVID-19 and seven additional deaths related to the disease on Monday.

The state processed fewer tests than average, but not an unusually small announcement, 3,632. Not including Tuesday, DOH has averaged just over 4,320 tests processed daily since the beginning of June.

The new cases brought the state’s total to 9,933 and the number of deaths related to COVID-19 reached 447.

The state also continued to drop the number of those hospitalized for COVID-19, even as Arizona and Texas have experienced new highs in both cases and hospitalizations after reopening their economy and easing business restrictions last month.

Of the new cases, the most came out of Bernalillo County, 27, while McKinley County, with 13, was the only other county with more than 10 cases.

Of those who died, all came from the three northwestern counties with the highest per capita number of cases. The state provided some details on each case but did not detail which underlying condition patients had, only if any were present.

A male in his 80s from Cibola County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. He was a resident of the Good Samaritan Society facility in Grants.
A male in his 50s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 70s from McKinley County who was hospitalized.
A female in her 80s from McKinley County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Little Sisters of the Poor facility in Gallup.
A male in his 50s from San Juan County who had underlying conditions.
A female in her 70s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A male in his 90s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and was a resident of Beehive Homes in Farmington.

The number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico dropped to 156, down five from Monday’s number. This could include those who tested positive in other states but are now hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include those who tested positive in New Mexico and are now hospitalized in other states. This was the lowest number of hospitalizations since April 27, when the state reported 155 people were hospitalized in the state for COVID-19.

DOH reported 4,217 confirmed COVID-19 cases are now designated as recovered, an increase of 57 over Monday’s announcement.

Testing details

The state’s coronavirus information page said on Tuesday that they have processed 271,553 total COVID-19 tests, an increase of 3,632 tests since Monday. The state remains third-most among states with the highest number of tests processed per capita.

In addition to the newly announced cases in Bernalillo and McKinley counties, DOH also reported three more cases in Hidalgo County. The state has found 20 cases of COVID-19 in Hidalgo County in the last two days, after just three total previously.

The state also reported three new cases among those held by the state Department of Corrections at the Otero County Prison Facility, the site of the largest spike in new cases this month.

Of the newly reported cases:

27 new cases in Bernalillo County
1 new case in Cibola County
6 new cases in Curry County
3 new cases in Doña Ana County
1 new case in Eddy County
3 new cases in Hidalgo County
5 new cases in Lea County
3 new cases in Luna County
13 new cases in McKinley County
9 new cases in Sandoval County
6 new cases in San Juan County
5 new cases in Santa Fe County
3 new cases in Valencia County
3 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility

The state also provided numbers of the total cases, including Tuesday’s newly announced cases.

A previously reported case in Doña Ana County that was not lab confirmed was previously included, but has been removed. Also, a case that was previously thought to be an out-of-state resident was determined to be a Valencia County resident and has been added to the total.

Bernalillo County: 1,733
Catron County: 2
Chaves County: 59
Cibola County: 186
Colfax County: 8
Curry County: 89
Doña Ana County: 659
Eddy County: 48
Grant County: 16
Guadalupe County: 20
Harding County: 1
Hidalgo County: 23
Lea County: 49
Lincoln County: 6
Los Alamos County: 7
Luna County: 32
McKinley County: 2,949
Otero County: 30
Quay County: 4
Rio Arriba County: 59
Roosevelt County: 53
Sandoval County: 642
San Juan County: 2,129
San Miguel County: 16
Santa Fe County: 178
Sierra County: 4
Socorro County: 55
Taos County: 33
Torrance County: 34
Union County: 5
Valencia County: 93

The number of cases among individuals held by federal agencies in facilities as of Wednesday:

Cibola County Correctional Center: 2
Luna County Detention Center: 1
Otero County Prison Facility: 275
Otero County Processing Center: 108
Torrance County Detention Facility: 24

The number of cases among individuals held by the state Department of Corrections as of Wednesday:

Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 1
Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
Otero County Prison Facility: 298
Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1

DOH also said that 45 acute care or long-term care facilities have had at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 28 days, among staff and/or residents.