Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County last week experienced two confirmed cases of COVID-19, continuing its weeks-long low rate of the disease.
The county so far was bucking a state and national trend of an upswing in coronavirus cases, mostly due to the more-contagious Delta variant infecting unvaccinated people.
One case last week was reported in the Tucumcari ZIP code; the other was in the Logan ZIP code. It was the first case in Tucumcari in weeks.
The county's overall case total rose to 543, with 11 deaths, since the pandemic began in spring 2020.
The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 374 in Tucumcari, 108 in Logan, 27 in San Jon, 11 in House, nine in McAlister, five in Nara Visa, five in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County), and five in Bard.
A total of 527 people in the county were deemed by the New Mexico Department of Health to have recovered from the virus.
These recent COVID-19 rapid responses were recorded at Quay County entities, according to the state’s database:
• Autumn Blessings in Logan, one case reported July 21.
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, 244 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 208,000 since the pandemic began.
The seven-day case number has risen from a low this year of 60 in late June to 150 last week — an indication the Delta variant was causing an upsurge.
Three COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total at 4,397.
A total of 106 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an increase of 15 from the previous week. It was the third straight week the state had seen an increase in its COVID-19 hospitalization numbers.
More than 900 people were hospitalized with the disease during the pandemic’s peak last winter.
The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 636 active cases of the disease, nearly doubling from the previous week. The disease has killed more than 770 people in the metro since the pandemic began.
In the U.S., more than 34.4 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 610,000 deaths, through Friday.
According to state data Friday, 42.3% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 0.2% from the previous week.
About 46.4% of Quay County residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.2%.
New Mexico’s full vaccination rate rose slowly to 64.3% as of Friday, and 72.3% had received at least one dose of vaccine.