Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
With more than a dozen confirmed cases of coronavirus in Logan in less than 10 days, it appears Quay County will be hard-pressed to stay in the turquoise zone when COVID-19 risk assessments are announced May 5.
Since the previous assessment April 19 through Friday, Quay County has recorded eight confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to New Mexico Department of Health records. The county can tolerate up only to 10 cases during a two-week period and still stay under the threshold of eight daily cases per 100,000 people.
Quay County also has an estimated test-positivity rate of 9% since April 19 through Friday, well above the threshold of 5%.
Two more coronavirus cases were reported Friday in the Logan ZIP code.
If Quay County tumbles from the turquoise to red or yellow zone during the next assessment May 5, it may force area school district to change plans about attendance caps at graduation ceremonies that month.
Despite the outbreak that prompted the closing of Logan Municipal Schools’ campus on April 15, parts of the school district reopened to in-person classes sooner than expected Monday.
School superintendent Dennis Roch wrote in a letter posted on the district’s website last week that Logan elementary and middle-school classes would resume in-person learning on April 26. That would be the 10th day of quarantine for students and staff who came in close contact with a COVID-positive person.
Roch wrote, however, because of “an elevated risk” of an additional 14-day state-mandated shutdown at Logan High School, high-school classes would continue remote learning until May 3.
The New Mexico Activities Association and the state’s Public Education Department also cleared Logan’s basketball teams to resume practices Monday.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 329 in Tucumcari, 74 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. Eight deaths have been reported in the county since the pandemic began more than a year ago.
A total of 412 people in Quay County have been deemed to have recovered from the virus through Friday.
COVID-19 rapid responses were recorded at these Quay County entities in the past week:
• Logan Superstop Inc., Logan, one case reported April 17;
• Subway in Tucumcari, two cases reported April 17;
• Eastern Plains CAA, Tucumcari, one case reported April 17;
• Logan Middle School, two cases reported April 20;
• Family Dollar, Logan, one case reported April 22.
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 245 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 196,000 since the pandemic began.
The state saw its seven-day average of cases drop to 135. The gating criteria is 168.
Human Services Secretary David Scrase said it appeared the state had plateaued in its caseload to 200 to 230 cases per day. He said the state’s modeling team forecasts that deaths and hospitalizations would continue to drop because of vaccinations.
One COVID-19 death was reported in the state Friday, raising that total at 4,024.
A total of 116 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, the same number as the previous week. That number remained well below the winter peak of more than 900.
The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 301 active cases of the disease — an increase of almost 50 in one week. The hospitalization rate was 2.68%, compared to the previous week’s 3.58%.
In the U.S., the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose to more than 32 million, with more than 572,000 deaths, on Sunday.