Two COVID-19 cases reported Thursday in county

The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday reported two confirmed cases of coronavirus in Quay County, both in the Tucumcari ZIP code.

Both cases were men — one age 20 to 29 and the other age 30 to 39.

Quay County continues to see an elevated but declining rate of COVID-19 cases in December, with 68 so far. A total of 140 cases were reported in the county in November.

The total number of cases in the county rose to 316, with six deaths. A total of 121 people in the county have been deemed by the state as recovered from the virus.

The latest breakdown by ZIP code since the pandemic began is 244 in Tucumcari, 47 in Logan, seven in House, six in San Jon, four in McAlister, three in Nara Visa, two in Bard and one in Grady (part of the ZIP code extends into the county).

The City of Tucumcari’s warehouse and water department at 302 W. Center St. landed on the state’s COVID-19 Watch List, according to an email Thursday afternoon from the Environment Department.

The watch list includes places of employment that have had two or more rapid responses in the last 14 days. There are more than 170 such establishments on the list.

When four or more rapid responses occur at a location within 14 calendar days, the Environment Department refers the establishment to the Department of Health, which evaluates and decides whether it should close. An establishment may be permitted to keep operating if the DOH, after consultation with the Environment Department, determines it is a sole provider of goods or services within a community, or whether they have committed to regular surveillance testing of employees.

In the state, the DOH reported 1,702 cases on Thursday. The total number in New Mexico since the pandemic began rose to more than 126,000.

A record-high total of 48 deaths were reported Thursday in New Mexico, raising the total to 2,097 since the pandemic began.

A total of 852 people in the state were hospitalized with the disease Thursday, an increase of 14 from Wednesday.

The Amarillo area reported Thursday more than 5,800 active cases of the disease, with a 28.6% hospitalization rate. Both numbers have been trending downward in recent days.

In the U.S., more than 17.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported through Thursday since the pandemic began, with more than 309,000 deaths.