Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County on Friday recorded its first confirmed coronavirus case since March 26, continuing a low ebb of the disease.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code was 329 in Tucumcari, 61 in Logan, 10 in House, nine in McAlister, eight in San Jon, four in Nara Visa, four in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and three in Bard.
A total of 409 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Friday.
No COVID-19 rapid responses were reported in the county in the past week.
In New Mexico, a total of 126 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 193,000 since the pandemic began.
The state saw its seven-day average of cases drop to 174. The gating criteria is 168.
Two COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising that total at 3,976.
A total of 106 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an uptick of about 10% from the previous week. That number, however, remained well below the peak of more than 900 this winter.
The state’s Department of Health announced Friday it no longer would issue weekend reports of the disease, instead consolidating the data into Monday reports.
Human Services Secretary David Scrase said during a briefing Wednesday that New Mexico has seen no rise in cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19, which originated in the United Kingdom, which is an exception to numerous states.
Higher counts of the variant are being recorded in Texas, Colorado and California, and Michigan reports 75% of its new cases come from that variant.
The B.1.1.7 variant spreads more easily, with a higher death rate. However, current vaccines still are effective in reducing the chance of severe illness.
The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 206 active cases of the disease with a 2.01% hospitalization rate. The active-cases number rose slightly from the previous week, though the hospitalization rate continued its weeks-long downward trend.
In the U.S., the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to more than 31 million, with more than 561,000 deaths, through Friday.