When it comes to New Mexico's COVID-19 gating criteria, 168 has been the magic number and the remaining holdout in assessing the statewide picture during the pandemic. While the state has been regularly meeting seven of the benchmarks—from contact tracing to hospital supplies to transmission rates—reducing new case counts to 168 over a seven-day rolling average has remained elusive. Until now.
"It is true that New Mexico, as a state, is meeting all eight of the statewide gating criteria," Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase writes via email in response to SFR's questions about the significance of doing so. "And we should celebrate this fact as it has been a long time!"
Nonetheless, he continues: "We will need to watch the numbers over the next week or two to ensure the trend holds, as case counts over the past four days have averaged 193, 15 [%] higher than 168. Also, when the case count is 168, that means that we are at eight cases per 100,000 across New Mexico. Which means that half of New Mexicans live in a county over eight cases/100,000, and half in a county below that. Personally, I am waiting to celebrate when all 33 New Mexico counties are green or turquoise at the same time."
Under the state's public health law and red-to-green framework, counties are currently assessed for test positivity rates of 5% or less and case counts at eight per 100,000 or lower over 14 days. Those meeting both criteria are considered green and have relaxed public health rules; those that stay green for two consecutive bi-weekly assessments are turquoise and have the fewest restrictions of all. Last week, Scrase said both criteria are currently under review as the state continues to make headway in vaccinations and the goalposts shift. Asymptomatic vaccinated people who have exposure to COVID-19 are not advised to be tested, which is likely to lead to decreased testing and increased test positivity rates. The state has already adjusted the case count criteria for smaller counties, whose case rates can fluctuate significantly due to their small sizes.
Overall, today's weekly epidemiology and modeling report from the health department concludes that case rates may be hitting a plateau and declines in hospitalizations and deaths may be slowing.
The report also shows increases for effective rates of transmission in the northwest and southeast regions, with both slightly over the statewide target of 1.05. The northwest region has also had the highest 14-day relative growth rate, although the rolling average of daily case counts in the region remains below eight cases per 100,000.
New Mexico health officials today reported 148 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 191,377. The health department has designated 173,569 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County led with 58 new cases today, followed by Doña Ana County with 37 and Sandoval County with 25. Santa Fe County had three new cases.
After two consecutive days with zero deaths, the state today announced seven fatalities. There have now been a total of 3,932 deaths statewide.
As of today, 110 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.*
As for vaccines, as of today, according to the health department's vaccine dashboard, 43.6% of New Mexicans 16 years and older have had at least one dose and 26.9% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 42.8% have had at least one shot and 24.2% are fully inoculated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, New Mexico currently ranks first in the US for the percentage of population in the state who have received first and second doses.
New cases
- 58 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 1 new case in Catron County
- 3 new cases in Chaves County
- 1 new case in Cibola County
- 37 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 6 new cases in Eddy County
- 1 new case in Guadalupe County
- 1 new case in McKinley County
- 3 new cases in Otero County
- 1 new case in Roosevelt County
- 25 new cases in Sandoval County
- 3 new cases in San Juan County
- 3 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 2 new cases in Socorro County
- 2 new cases in Valencia County
- 1 new case among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center
New fatalities
- A female in her 50s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 100s from Chaves County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Mission Arch Center in Roswell
- A male in his 90s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized
- A female in her 20s from Eddy County who had underlying conditions
- A female in her 60s from Lincoln County who had underlying conditions
- A female in her 90s from McKinley County who had underlying conditions
- A female in her 70s from Otero 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:
- Advanced Health Care in Albuquerque
- Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
- Avamere at Fiesta Park in Albuquerque
- Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
- BeeHive Homes Farmington
- Casa del Sol Center in Las Cruces
- Casa Sandia in Albuquerque
- Clovis Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
- Desert Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hobbs
- Good Life Senior Living in Carlsbad
- Good Samaritan Society – Betty Dare in Alamogordo
- Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad
- La Vida Llena Assisted Living in Albuquerque
- Mission Arch Center in Roswell
- The Montecito in Santa Fe
- The Neighborhood in Rio Rancho Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
- Pacifica Senior Living in Santa Fe
- Princeton Place in Albuquerque
- Retirement Ranches in Clovis
- The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
- Santa Fe Care Center in Santa Fe
- Suites at Rio Vista in Rio Rancho
- Vecino Sanos Assisted Living in Santa Rosa
Statewide cases
According to a health department news release, previously reported numbers included one case in Bernalillo County that has been identified as a duplicate, which has now been corrected. County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.
- Bernalillo County: 54,602
- Catron County: 84
- Chaves County: 8,733
- Cibola County: 2,814
- Colfax County: 722
- Curry County: 5,035
- De Baca County: 133
- Doña Ana County: 23,825
- Eddy County: 6,663
- Grant County: 1,613
- Guadalupe County: 377
- Harding County: 9
- Hidalgo County: 353
- Lea County: 8,190
- Lincoln County: 1,586
- Los Alamos County: 499
- Luna County: 3,229
- McKinley County: 12,141
- Mora County: 168
- Otero County: 3,612
- Quay County: 427
- Rio Arriba County: 3,470
- Roosevelt County: 1,864
- Sandoval County: 11,345
- San Juan County: 13,733
- San Miguel County: 1,314
- Santa Fe County: 9,845
- Sierra County: 710
- Socorro County: 1,244
- Taos County: 1,611
- Torrance County: 679
- Union County: 244
- Valencia County: 6,398
Cases among people being held by federal agencies
- Cibola County Correctional Center: 447
- Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 443
- Otero County Processing Center: 198
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 47
Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections
- Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 292
- Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 251
- Lea County Correctional Facility: 759
- Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 167
- Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 126
- Otero County Prison Facility: 472
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 217
- Roswell Correctional Center: 230
- Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 230
- Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 151
- Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 75
*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.
