Three more COVID-19 deaths confirmed

State health officials reported three more confirmed deaths of COVID-19 in Quay County last week, bringing the total to 17 since the pandemic began last spring.

The New Mexico Department of Health reported these coronavirus deaths in the county:

• A man in his 80s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions;

• A woman in her 70s who was hospitalized;

• A woman in her 70s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

More than half of the county’s deaths have occurred since late May.

According to the DOH, the women’s deaths occurred several weeks ago when death certificates were delayed.

Quay County experienced 33 more confirmed cases of coronavirus last week, including seven cases reported Friday. That compares to the 47 cases in the previous week.

Compared to the 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19 during the previous week, the latest numbers indicated a possible slowdown in the spread of the disease in the county.

The Covid Act Now website last week also dropped Quay County’s risk rating from “severe” — the worst rating possible — to “very high” for spread of the disease.

Many of last week’s cases were in the Tucumcari ZIP code, with several more in Logan and Bard.

According to data Wednesday by the New Mexico Department of Health, Quay County remained the 10th-worst in the state in COVID-19 per capita caseloads. It had ranked in the top five worst counties a few weeks ago.

The county's case total rose to 977 since the pandemic began in spring 2020.

The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 734 in Tucumcari, 151 in Logan, 44 in San Jon, 12 in House, 10 in McAlister, 10 in Bard, nine in Nara Visa, and five in Grady in the part that extends into the county.

A total of 766 people in the county were deemed by the DOH to have recovered from the virus.

These COVID-19 rapid responses were reported in the county last week:

• Yesway, San Jon, one case reported Oct. 1 and Oct. 4;

• Victory Personal Care, Tucumcari, one case reported Oct. 6;

• Quay County Road Department, Tucumcari, one case reported Oct. 6;

• Love’s Travel Stop, Tucumcari, one case reported Oct. 7.

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.

Lightly populated Harding County, which had seen low numbers of cases since the pandemic started, reported 18 cases since Oct. 4 — more than doubling its total in one week.

In New Mexico, 972 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the overall total to more than 258,000 since the pandemic began.

New Mexico Health Secretary David Scrase said Wednesday the number of cases in the state had plateaued in the last four weeks instead of declined, which remains “a big problem.”

Fifteen COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total to 4,869.

A total of 342 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decline of five from the previous week. Though the number of coronavirus cases is relatively low compared to the pandemic’s peak last winter, Scrase said current caseloads were “incredibly stressful to hospitals” because of a lack of nurses and many more patients with other ailments. He said healthcare professionals feel “frustrated by a preventable illness.”

Scrase said 77% of new cases, 86.7% of hospitalizations and 94% of deaths from coronavirus had occurred in unvaccinated people from Sept. 6 to Oct. 4.

Answering a reporter’s question who noted a climb in the number of breakthrough cases occurring in vaccinated people, Scrase surmised that was happening because of waning efficacy of the Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that were administered in late 2020 and early 2021 in New Mexico, an “early adopter” of vaccinations compared to much of the rest of the country.

Preliminary studies indicate the Moderna vaccine is holding its effectiveness longer.

The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 3,124 active cases of the disease, a decrease of about 250 from the previous week. The active-case count was about 300 earlier this summer.

The disease has killed nearly 900 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 44.3 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 712,000 deaths, through Friday.

According to state data Friday, 48.2% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 1.1% from the previous week.

About 53% of Quay County residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.6% from the previous week.

In New Mexico, 71.3% of eligible residents had been fully vaccinated by Friday, with 80.7% receiving one dose of vaccine.

Scrase said 89% of New Mexico’s hospital employees are fully vaccinated and 3% partially vaccinated, with 7% receiving an approved exemption. Only 1% remain unvaccinated, with those likely to be fired or fined by their employers.