Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County stayed in a low trickle of coronavirus cases, totaling three in the past week.
The continued downward trend fortifies cautious optimism the county could land in the green zone when COVID-19 risk assessments are announced Wednesday, further relaxing health restrictions.
Quay County landed in the yellow zone Feb. 8, opening restaurants to limited indoor dining for the first time in more than three months.
The latest case Sunday was reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code. No cases were reported Monday.
The county has recorded eight cases since Feb. 8. It can tolerate up to 10 cases during a two-week period and still be below the benchmark of eight daily cases per 100,000 people.
Quay County’s estimated test positivity rate is 3.1% since Feb. 8 through Sunday, which is below the benchmark of 5%. The county made it in the yellow zone earlier this month because was below that benchmark.
Human Services Secretary David Scrase said during a briefing Wednesday he anticipated “a vast majority” of counties in New Mexico would land in the yellow or green zone this week.
He expressed confidence counties that are in the yellow zone, such as Quay, would stay there or improve into the green.
“I feel quite optimistic,” he said.
The county’s overall total rose to 416 since the pandemic began last spring, with eight deaths.
The breakdown by ZIP code through Sunday was 323 in Tucumcari, 59 in Logan, 10 in House, eight in McAlister, seven in San Jon, four in Nara Visa, three in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and two in Bard.
A total of 322 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Monday.
COVID-19 rapid responses were referred last week because of confirmed cases of the virus with these entities:
• Tucumcari Public Schools, one case reported Feb. 17;
• North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, Tucumcari, one case reported Feb. 18.
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 New Mexico, a total of 237 new COVID-19 cases were reported Monday, bringing the overall total to more than 183,000 since the pandemic began.
The decline in the seven-day average for cases in New Mexico continued its trend toward the 300 mark — far below the average of more than 2,600 in late November.
The state remains well above the gating criteria of 168 cases in a seven-day average.
A total of 11 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Monday, increasing that total to 3,635.
A total of 247 people were hospitalized with the disease Monday. That number has continued a downward trend from a peak of more than 900 earlier this winter.
The Amarillo metro region on Monday totaled 804 active cases of the disease — a decrease of nearly 500 over the weekend — with a 6% hospitalization rate. Both numbers have shown a downward trend in recent weeks.
In the U.S., the total number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 28.1 million, with more than 500,000 deaths, through Monday.