New Mexico COVID-19 transmission, hospitalizations remain high

Santa Fe County had its 170th death: a man in his 20s

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Grim statistics from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic governed today’s weekly update from state health officials, both at the global and local level.

State epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross provided an overview from the World Health Organization, noting there have been more than 244 million COVID-19 cases worldwide and nearly 5 million deaths. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports more than 45 million cases thus far and more than 736,000 deaths.

“These numbers are staggering,” Ross said. “It’s a very unbelievable public health crisis that we’ve been dealing with.”

While nationally, there are indicators of declining case rates in parts of the country, New Mexico, she said, continues “to sit at an uncomfortable plateau.”

New Mexico health officials today reported 959 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 272,855. DOH has designated 241,090 of those cases as recovered.

Bernalillo County had 217 new cases, followed by McKinley County with 87 and San Juan County with 77. Santa Fe County had 39 new cases.

The state’s metro region, Ross said, “drives a lot of what we see across the state,” but New Mexico is also seeing a “worrisome case trend” in the western region. The northwest region, she said has an increasing seven-day average and the southwest region also has a high plateau and “what looks like even an increase.” The northeast also is at a bit of a plateau and, in a “welcome reprieve,” the southeast has had a “sharp decline.”

“We’re providing this so we can share situational awareness so people can understand what’s happening in the region where they live,” Ross said.

Overall, all of the state’s 33 counties have high—or red—levels of community transmission. Santa Fe County’s case rate for the period of Oct. 12-25, however, is the lowest in the state, 18.4% per 100,000 people, and has the second lowest test positivity rate, 4.01%.

These ongoing cases, combined with what health officials believe may be people facing increased illness due to delayed care during the pandemic, continue to keep the state’s hospitals full. As of today, 389 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.*

Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase noted that modeling indicates an increase in hospitalizations over the next two weeks. The state recently enacted crisis standards of care, which creates “standardized and equitable procedure” for making decisions about rationing care and provides limited legal liability coverage to providers who move to higher levels of practice, among other actions. The state also is working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide assistance to hospitals, such as reimbursement for traveling nurses when they are available.

Scrase said the state “may be seeing” a plateau in deaths, although he “personally think[s] it’s too early to tell.” The state announced 15 additional deaths today, including a man in his 20s from Santa Fe County who had been hospitalized; there have now been 170 fatalities in Santa Fe County and 5,027 statewide.

Health officials continue to urge those New Mexicans who remain unvaccinated to see out vaccines. According to the weekly vaccination report, between Sept. 27 and Oct. 25, 72.8% of cases were among those who are not fully vaccinated, as were 77.4% of hospitalizations and 91.9% of deaths.

“We continue to slowly increase our vaccination rate, which is very important,” Deputy DOH Secretary Dr. Laura Parajón said. “Unfortunately, there are still COVID cases because there is still a portion of New Mexicans who are not vaccinated.”

Currently, 81.9% of New Mexicans 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 72.3% are fully vaccinated. Among that demographic, 8.2% have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 62.4% people have had at least one dose and 54.2% are fully inoculated. In Santa Fe County, among those 18 years and older, 92.8% have had at least one dose and 82.3% are fully vaccinated.

All three COVID-19 vaccines are now available in booster shot form. Recipients of both Pfizer and Moderna vaccines may now receive boosters after six months or more after completing their initial series if they: are 65 years and older; 18 years or older and live in long-term care settings; 18 years or older and have underlying medical conditions; 18 years or older an work or live in high-risk settings. For New Mexicans who received the J & J vaccine, booster shots are also recommended for those who are 18 and older and who were vaccinated two or more months ago. New Mexico has administered 125,843 booster doses since Aug. 1. People can also “mix and match” vaccines.

Parajón said officials are now readying for availability of the Pfizer vaccine for children ages 5-11, which received a recommendation from a Food and Drug Administration committee yesterday and will next need approval from the FDA and CDC. Once the federal government approves the vaccine, New Mexico’s Medical Advisory Committee will review the data and then the state will begin offering the vaccine to that age group, most likely by early next month.

“We are super excited for all those parents out there who are waiting for kids to get a vaccine,” Parajón said. The state has created a new electronic consent form for child vaccinations, which is available online now.

While booster shots, prospective vaccines for kids 5-11 and ongoing mitigation efforts such as the indoor mask mandate may help reduce infections, health officials acknowledged today that the highly transmissible Delta variant and the relentless siege of the pandemic—today was day 595—continue to take a toll. New Mexico’s ongoing struggle with cases may be attributable to waning immunity, to the highly transmissible Delta variant, to human behavior, or some combination of the three, but the end result remains the same:

“This is a hard time,” Ross said. “We are all struggling. We would like to put this pandemic behind us and in the past but we’re not there yet. We all continue to struggle with this global pandemic, but we’re thrilled that we do have effective countermeasures, and certainly vaccination is our number one countermeasure.”

New cases

  • 217 new cases in Bernalillo County
  • 4 new cases in Catron County
  • 40 new cases in Chaves County
  • 17 new cases in Cibola County
  • 9 new cases in Colfax County
  • 19 new cases in Curry County
  • 3 new cases in De Baca County
  • 49 new cases in Doña Ana County
  • 24 new cases in Eddy County
  • 69 new cases in Grant County
  • 3 new cases in Hidalgo County
  • 30 new cases in Lea County
  • 25 new cases in Lincoln County
  • 1 new case in Los Alamos County
  • 15 new cases in Luna County
  • 87 new cases in McKinley County
  • 1 new case in Mora County
  • 25 new cases in Otero County
  • 10 new cases in Quay County
  • 44 new cases in Rio Arriba County
  • 16 new cases in Roosevelt County
  • 64 new cases in Sandoval County
  • 77 new cases in San Juan County
  • 6 new cases in San Miguel County
  • 39 new cases in Santa Fe County
  • 7 new cases in Sierra County
  • 7 new cases in Socorro County
  • 22 new cases in Taos County
  • 4 new cases in Torrance County
  • 25 new cases in Valencia County

New fatalities

  • A male in his 40s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 60s from Bernalillo County
  • A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County
  • A male in his 30s from Cibola County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 90s from Grant County who was hospitalized
  • A male in his 60s from Luna County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A female in her 50s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A female in her 70s from Otero County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A second female in her 70s from Otero County who was hospitalized
  • A male in his 40s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 20s from Santa Fe County who was hospitalized
  • A male in his 50s from Taos County who was hospitalized
  • A female in her 80s from Valencia County who was hospitalized
  • A male in his 80s from Valencia County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions

Congregate facilities

The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following facilities:

  • Adobe Assisted Living in Las Cruces
  • Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
  • The Aristocrat Assisted Living Center in Las Cruces
  • Aspen Ridge Lodge Retirement in Los Alamos
  • Aztec Healthcare in Aztec
  • BeeHive Homes of Four Hills in Albuquerque
  • BeeHive Homes Gallup
  • Bellamah House in Albuquerque
  • Bloomfield Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bloomfield
  • The Bridge of Farmington in Farmington
  • Calibre Sagecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Las Cruces
  • Camino Retirement Apartments in Albuquerque
  • Canyon Transitional Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
  • Care Free Assisted Living in Albuquerque
  • Casa Arena Blanca Nursing Center in Alamogordo
  • Casa de la Reina Assisted Living in Albuquerque
  • Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell
  • Casa Real in Santa Fe
  • Cedar Ridge Inn in Farmington
  • Crane’s Roost Care Home in Aztec
  • Desert Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hobbs
  • Elmcroft of Quintessence in Albuquerque
  • Fairwinds Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
  • Fort Bayard Medical Center in Santa Clara
  • Genesis Silver City Care Center in Silver City
  • Gingrich Home For the Elderly in Farmington
  • Good Samaritan Society – Betty Dare in Alamogordo
  • Good Samaritan Society Las Cruces
  • Good Samaritan Society - Las Cruces Village Las Cruces
  • Haciendas at Grace Village in Las Cruces
  • Landmark at Desert Gardens in Hobbs
  • Las Cruces Post Acute and Rehabilitation Center of Cascadia (Welbrook Senior Living) in Las Cruces
  • Mission Arch Center in Roswell
  • MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care of Albuquerque
  • MorningStar Memory Care at North Ridge in Albuquerque
  • The Neighborhood Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
  • Palmilla Senior Living in Albuquerque
  • Princeton Place in Albuquerque
  • Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup
  • The Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque
  • The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
  • Santa Fe Care Center in Santa Fe
  • Seniorcare LLC - Raven House in Albuquerque
  • Sierra Health Care Center in Truth or Consequences
  • Sombrillo Nursing Home in Los Alamos
  • Vida Encantada Nursing & Rehabilitation in Las Vegas
  • Village at Northrise - Desert Willow in Las Cruces
  • Welbrook Transitional Rehabilitation in Farmington
  • Willow Manor Residential Care Center in Deming

Statewide cases

County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.

  • Bernalillo County: 75,987
  • Catron County: 213
  • Chaves County: 12,695
  • Cibola County: 3,676
  • Colfax County: 1,323
  • Curry County: 7,372
  • De Baca County: 241
  • Doña Ana County: 30,149
  • Eddy County: 10,888
  • Grant County: 2,617
  • Guadalupe County: 610
  • Harding County: 43
  • Hidalgo County: 576
  • Lea County: 13,565
  • Lincoln County: 2,964
  • Los Alamos County: 794
  • Luna County: 3,990
  • McKinley County: 14,938
  • Mora County: 369
  • Otero County: 6,707
  • Quay County: 1,030
  • Rio Arriba County: 4,896
  • Roosevelt County: 2,731
  • Sandoval County: 16,104
  • San Juan County: 21,486
  • San Miguel County: 2,601
  • Santa Fe County: 13,157
  • Sierra County: 1,058
  • Socorro County: 1,723
  • Taos County: 2,411
  • Torrance County: 1,412
  • Union County: 351
  • Valencia County: 9,209

Cases among people being held by federal agencies

  • Cibola County Correctional Center: 455
  • Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 547
  • Otero County Processing Center: 564
  • Torrance County Detention Facility: 356

Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections

  • Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 331
  • Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 257
  • Lea County Correctional Facility: 765
  • Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 176
  • Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 130
  • Otero County Prison Facility: 473
  • Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 224
  • Roswell Correctional Center: 229
  • Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 235
  • Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 151
  • Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 76

*Per the health department, hospitalization figures include people who were tested elsewhere but are hospitalized in New Mexico, but don’t include people who were tested here but are hospitalized out of state.