Logan experiences 15 cases in five days

Logan became an apparent hotspot of COVID-19 after Ute Lake State Park closed because of cases there last week and the school district delayed the opening of classes because of a case there, as well.

The New Mexico Department of Health on Sunday reported four more confirmed cases of coronavirus in Quay County, all in Logan. The village experienced 15 cases in five days. No cases were reported in the county Monday.

Ute Lake State Park in Logan has remained closed since Wednesday after several workers there showed coronavirus-like symptoms and later were confirmed with the disease. The park will remain closed through Aug. 25 while the workers are quarantined.

Logan Municipal Schools delayed the school year that was set to begin Monday because one staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and two others showed symptoms. Logan schools also was officially added Thursday to the New Mexico Environmental Department's COVID-19 rapid-response team referral list because of the confirmed case there. Logan now is set to begin some in-person classes Sept. 8.

Many Logan residents previously had shown some skepticism about the virus.

A survey of parents by the Logan school district earlier this summer showed 93% of families said they were unconcerned about the virus. Volunteers held a Fourth of July parade in the village despite the state’s ban on public gatherings and the local chamber of commerce’s cancellation of the official event. Few, if any, masks were seen during that event or at the school district’s drive-up graduation in June.

According to the DOH website, the latest cases Sunday were three women and one man. Two were age 20 to 29, one was 30 to 39, and one was 70 to 79.

The total number of cases in the county is 29 in the Tucumcari ZIP code, 19 in the Logan ZIP code, and four in the San Jon ZIP code.

The total number of cases in the county overall since the pandemic began reached 50 on Sunday.

Thirteen in the county have been deemed as recovered from the disease, with one death reported in April from a resident who contracted the virus in Florida.

A total of 1,427 people had been tested for the virus in Quay County through Sunday. The county has seen a large increase in the positivity rate since Aug. 11. About 20% (17 of 86) had tested positive for the disease during that time. The state's overall test-positivity rate is under 3%.

Statewide, the total number of cases Monday was 95, the first time the daily number total had fallen below 100 since June 18. The seven-day average of cases fell to 151, below the gating-criteria goal of 168. New Mexico has recorded more than 23,500 cases since the pandemic began.

Four deaths were reported statewide Monday, bringing the total to 718 in the state.

A total of 10,602 people in New Mexico have been deemed as recovered from the virus. A total of 119 people remain hospitalized with the disease, which has been trending downward.

In the U.S., more than 5.4 million people have been confirmed with the virus, with more than 170,000 deaths as of Monday afternoon.

Health briefing

Human Services Secretary David Scrase said during a health briefing Thursday that if the seven-day average of confirmed cases fell to 168, he would feel satisfied the state had met the gating criteria to tentatively reopen parts of the economy. He said case numbers were coming down in all regions.

“I believe in the next week or so, we’ll get there,” he said.

His prediction proved accurate, as the state met that criteria on Sunday with a seven-day average of 157.

Scrase said Thursday that New Mexico was meeting the other criteria, including testing capacity, supplies of personal protective equipment, intensive-care bed supplies, contact tracing and the test positivity rate. The spread rate of the virus was 0.73, well below the goal of 1.05 for a second straight week.

He said New Mexico’s 2.4% test positivity rate was lower than surrounding states of Texas, Arizona, Utah, Colorado and Oklahoma. He cautioned that test positivity rates, however, remained high in Curry, Roosevelt and Union counties.

The worst counties in terms of new COVID-19 cases were Bernalillo, De Baca and Lea counties. Scrase said he would add testing resources to the southeast region.

Scrase said new evidence indicates coronavirus may cause long-term health issues to survivors, including brain fog, shortness of breath, heart arrhythmia and hypertension.

“It’s not just a cold,” he said of the disease.

He said new research found most masks worked well against the virus except bandanas and gaiter-type neck fleeces. He said gaiters were worse than wearing nothing because they tended to “shred” the infected saliva droplets from the nose and mouth.

Asked about future vaccine distribution, Scrase and Lujan Grisham said high-priority to receive the vaccines are healthcare workers, nursing home workers and residents, first responders, educators, child-care workers and inmates. Lujan Grisham also said she would push as mandatory schoolchildren receiving the shots.

Scrase said he anticipated a vaccine by winter, with wide availability by the first quarter of 2021.