Two more confirmed cases reported

The New Mexico Department of Health on Sunday reported tw0 more confirmed cases of coronavirus in the county, both in the Tucumcari ZIP code.

The latest cases were two young males — one age 10 to 19, the other age 20 to 29.

No cases were reported in the county Monday – the second time in a week no cases had been reported.

The total number of cases in the county stood Monday at 331, with six deaths. A total of 159 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 258 in Tucumcari, 47 in Logan, seven in House, seven 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).

Quay County continues to see an elevated but declining rate of COVID-19 cases in December, with 84 through Monday. A total of 140 cases were reported in the county in November.

The county saw an average of nearly 4.66 cases per day in November. In December through Monday, that had fallen to 3.o per day.

In recent days, the county had shown signs of the pandemic hitting a plateau with cases falling to one or two per day, including no cases recorded Dec. 23, the first time that had happened in several weeks, and Monday.

According to the state’s COVID-19 rapid-response database, these confirmed cases were reported in Tucumcari in the past week:

• New Mexico Department of Transportation, District 4, one case reported Dec. 22;

• Circle K at 2624 S. First St., one case reported Wednesday;

• City of Tucumcari, one case reported Friday.

A typical rapid response consists of isolating positive cases, quarantining close contacts for 14 days, ceasing operations to the extent necessary to isolate affected areas, disinfecting these areas, implementing safety procedures and resuming operations. Typically, operations are ceased for fewer than 24 hours before it is safe to reopen.

In the state, the DOH reported 700 cases on Monday. That was the third consecutive day of New Mexico’s caseload totaling less than 1,000. Saturday’s total of 604 was the lowest since Oct. 31.

Like Quay County, New Mexico also was experiencing a drop-off in its coronavirus caseload. Its peak occurred in late November, with 2,669 cases in its seven-day average. By Monday, that seven-day average had dropped to 1,122.

The total number of cases in New Mexico since the pandemic began rose to more than 138,000.

A total of 39 deaths were reported Monday in New Mexico, raising the total to 2,380 since the pandemic began.

A total of 788 people in the state were hospitalized with the disease Monday, a rise of 30 from the previous day.

In the Amarillo metro area, more than 4,400 active cases were reported Monday, the most recent reporting day available, with a 21.5% hospitalization rate. Both numbers had been trending downward in recent weeks.

In the U.S., more than 19.3 million confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported through Monday since the pandemic began, with more than 334,000 deaths.