Quay sees 55 confirmed cases of virus

Quay County continued to see strong growth in the spread of coronavirus with 55 confirmed cases last week, including 12 on Friday, according to the state’s Department of Health.

That compared to 42 cases during the previous week and 40 the week before that.

The county's overall case total rose to 725 since the pandemic began in spring 2020, with 12 deaths.

Data presented Wednesday by New Mexico Health Secretary David Scrase showed Quay County had the fourth-worst case rate and third-worst test positivity rate in the state.

The Covid Act Now website on Thursday also downgraded Quay County into the “severe risk” category, the worst level.

During the most recent two-week assessment period from Aug. 10 to Aug. 23, the county’s daily case rate was 70.6 per 100,000 people and its test-positivity rate was 18.91%. Those numbers were up from 53.6 cases and 18.48% test-positivity rates from July 27 to Aug. 9. The desired benchmarks are 10 daily cases per 100,000 and a 7.5% test positivity rate.

Last week, cases were reported in these ZIP codes: 39 in Tucumcari, three in Logan, one in San Jon and one in Nara Visa. Eleven cases couldn’t be accounted for from the data.

The overall breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 506 in Tucumcari, 127 in Logan, 39 in San Jon, 11 in House, 10 in McAlister, eight in Bard, eight in Nara Visa and five in Grady (part of which extends into Quay County).

A total of 539 people in the county were deemed by the DOH to have recovered from the virus.

These COVID-19 rapid responses were reported by the state last week:

• New Mexico Gas Co. office in Tucumcari, one case reported Aug. 25;

• Tucumcari Public Schools, one case each reported on Aug, 24, Aug. 25 and Aug. 26;

• Sonic Drive-In in Tucumcari, one case reported Aug. 25;

• House School District, one case reported Aug. 23;

• Circle K at 2624 S. First St., Tucumcari, one case reported Aug. 23.

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, 968 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 229,000 since the pandemic began.

Nine COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total at 4,505.

Scrase said modeling by Los Alamos National Laboratory indicated daily cases would peak at 1,300 to 1,500 in New Mexico by early September.

The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 3,936 active cases of the disease, an increase of almost 600 from the previous week. The active-case count was about 300 earlier this summer.

The disease has killed more than 800 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 38.7 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 636,000 deaths, through Friday.

Hospitals full

A total of 362 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decrease of 23 from the previous week. It was the first time in two months hospitalizations had declined.

During a briefing Wednesday, state Health Secretary David Scrase reported 50 patients throughout New Mexico were on a waiting list for intensive-care beds because hospitals were full.

Scrase attributed the full hospitals — which are seeing fewer COVID-19 patients than during the pandemic’s peak last winter — to staffing shortages of nurses and more sick people in general, many whom delayed their care during the pandemic.

Scrase anticipated New Mexico hospitals will move to a crisis standards of care mode this week, where care to many patients will be deferred.

More than 900 people were hospitalized with the disease during the pandemic’s peak last winter.

The hospitalization rate in the Amarillo area also has risen from 3% to more than 15% in just a few weeks.

Vaccinations

According to state data Friday, 43.6% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 0.3% from the previous week.

About 49.4% of Quay County residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.8% from the previous week.

New Mexico’s full vaccination rate rose to 67.2% as of Friday, and 76.8% had received at least one dose of vaccine.

Noting the inverse proportionality of caseloads and lack of vaccinations, Scrase said the southeast region of New Mexico was seeing five times more cases per capita than the northwest region. The northwest’s full vaccination rate is 65.8%, compared to the southeast’s 44.6%.

Deputy Health Secretary Laura Parajon said a booster shot is being considered for those vaccinated because of waning effectiveness over time. The third shot is limited to actively treated cancer patients, organ-transplant patients and those with moderate to severe immunity deficiencies. Parajon said the third shot likely would be available to the general public by fall.

State epidemiologist Christine Ross said 23.6% of new COVID-19 cases, 12.3% of hospitalizations and 15% of deaths in the past four weeks had occurred with those who were fully vaccinated, which she said was a “worrisome” trend. She said the current pandemic surge, however, primarily was affecting unvaccinated people.

Ross said a recent Mayo Clinic study indicated the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness drifted down from 76% to 42% efficacy over time, and Moderna fell from 86% to 76% efficacy.

Though the U.S. Food and Drug Administration fully approved the Pfizer vaccine last week, Parajon noted that was only for people age 16 and older. Pfizer vaccines for children age 12 to 15 are being tested. She anticipated a vaccine for children younger than 12 would be available by late fall or winter.