Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County showed tentative signs late last week that a nearly month-long spike of coronavirus cases was diminishing.
The county recorded only one confirmed COVID-19 case both Thursday and Friday. Both were in the Tucumcari ZIP code.
The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began last spring rose past the 500 mark last week.
At one point, Quay County had averaged four daily cases in the seven-day rolling average. It has recorded 75 since mid-April. In the April 19 to May 3 period, Quay County had the second-worst daily case rate in New Mexico (only San Juan County was worse) and the worst test-positivity rate in the state.
Tucumcari and Logan each had 31 cases and San Jon 12 since mid-April. The outbreaks have prompted those school districts to enact large quarantines or pause in-person instruction.
Many of those cases have occurred in children, as vaccinations have not been been cleared for persons under age 12, and the Pfizer vaccine for children over age 12 is difficult to obtain locally because of its ultra-cold storage requirements.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Quay County rose to 506 since the pandemic began last spring, with eight deaths.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 361 in Tucumcari, 93 in Logan, 20 in San Jon, 11 in House, nine in McAlister, four in Nara Visa, five in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and three in Bard.
A total of 419 people in the county have been deemed as recovered from the virus.
These recent COVID-19 rapid responses were recorded at Quay County entities, according to the state’s database:
— Pow Wow Restaurant and Lounge, Tucumcari, one case reported May 7;
— Logan Municipal Schools, one case reported May 7;
— Trigg Memorial Hospital, Tucumcari, two cases reported May 11;
— Cross Arrow Medical Group, Tucumcari, one case reported May 13;
— Logan Municipal Schools, one case reported May 13.
Logan’s elementary, middle and high schools also were on the state’s watch list.
A typical rapid response consists of isolating positive cases, quarantining close contacts, 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 223 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 200,000 since the pandemic began.
The state’s seven-day rolling average of cases dropped to 120 through Friday, a decline of about 30 from the previous week.
One COVID-19 death was reported in the state Friday, raising the total at 4,113.
A total of 112 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decline of about 30 from the previous week.
The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 471 active cases of the disease — an increase of almost 15 in one week. The hospitalization rate was 2.73%, which remained mostly stable.
In the U.S., more than 32.8 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 585,000 deaths, through Friday.