Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Just one Quay County coronavirus case was reported in the past week, fueling optimism the county will vault into the turquoise zone — the highest available — when assessments are announced Wednesday by the state.
Through Sunday, just five cases have been reported in the county since Feb. 22. The county can tolerate up to 10 cases within a two-week assessment period and still be under the benchmark of 8 daily cases per 100,000 people.
The estimated test-positivity rate in Quay County was 1.7% since Feb. 22, well under the benchmark of 5%.
Counties land in the turquoise zone when they have two successive two-week periods of meeting both benchmarks. Quay County met both criteria for the first time during the Feb. 9-22 assessment.
Counties in the turquoise zone would see immediate additional relaxations of health restrictions, including the reopening of indoor bars and entertainment venues.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began one year ago stood at 421, with eight deaths, through Sunday.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code was 327 in Tucumcari, 59 in Logan, 10 in House, eight in McAlister, eight in San Jon, four in Nara Visa, three in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and two in Bard.
A total of 368 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Sunday.
COVID-19 rapid responses were referred to Tucumcari Public Schools and the City of Tucumcari, both on March 4, with one confirmed case of the virus at each.
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 183 new COVID-19 cases were reported Sunday, bringing the overall total to nearly 187,000 since the pandemic began.
The state’s seven-day average of cases fell below 300, though it remains well above the gating criteria of 168 cases.
A total of 12 COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Sunday, increasing that total to 3,808.
A total of 169 people were hospitalized with the disease Sunday. That number has continued a downward trend from a peak of more than 900 earlier this winter.
During a briefing Wednesday, Human Services Secretary David Scrase voiced his disagreement with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to lift his state’s mask mandate and allow businesses to be open without restrictions.
“We do not believe this is the time to back off of those restraints,” Scrase said.
Scrase noted Texas’ COVID-19 modeling team leader voiced “not that much confidence” in the governor’s decision. He also said several Texas cities, especially El Paso, still have high numbers of coronavirus patients in their hospitals.
He said a resurgence of cases in Texas could pose a problem in border counties in New Mexico, which includes Quay. Scrase said he was “keeping an eye” on the situation in Amarillo, Lubbock and El Paso.
Scrase said it is likely New Mexico will see an increase of cases because of Texas. One model predicts an increase of virus transmissions of 40%.
Christine Ross, New Mexico’s lead epidemiologist, said eight cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19, which originated in the United Kingdom, have been detected so far in the state.
“This variant spreads more easily and quickly than other variants,” the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. “In January 2021, experts in the UK reported that this variant may be associated with an increased risk of death compared to other variant viruses, but more studies are needed to confirm this finding.”
The Amarillo metro region on Friday, the latest day available, totaled 526 active cases of the disease with a 4.46% hospitalization rate. Both numbers trended downward trend for weeks.
In the U.S., the total number of coronavirus cases rose to more than 28.9 million, with more than 524,000 deaths, through Sunday.