Two die, schools go remote as virus spreads

The rapid spread of COVID-19 caused two more deaths in Quay County last week and prompted two area school districts to go to remote-only classes through Nov. 29.

These two deaths were reported in the county, according to the state Department of Health:

• A man in his 90s who was hospitalized;

• A man in his 70s.

Those deaths increased the toll to 25 in the county since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020. About two-thirds of the county’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in the last six months.

A total of 91 confirmed cases of coronavirus were reported in Quay County last week, including 20 on Friday.

That compares to 60 during the previous week. Quay County has been experiencing its highest daily case rate since the pandemic began – even higher than its previous peak one year ago.

The COVID Act Now website downgraded the county last week, labeling it as “severe risk” for spread of the disease.

The total number of cases in the county since the pandemic began rose to 1,207.

Last week’s cases were spread throughout the county, though mostly in the Tucumcari and Logan ZIP codes.

The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 904 in Tucumcari, 201 in Logan, 52 in San Jon, 15 in House, 11 in McAlister, 11 in Bard, 10 in Nara Visa, and three in Grady in the part that extends into the county.

A total of 980 people in the county were deemed by the DOH to have recovered from the virus.

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

• Subway, Logan, one case reported Nov. 17;

• Subway, Tucumcari, one case reported Nov. 16;

• Income Support Division, Tucumcari, one case reported Nov. 15;

• Tucumcari Public Schools, one case reported Nov. 16;

• San Jon Municipal Schools, one case reported Nov. 12;

• Autumn Blessings, Logan, two cases reported Nov. 12;

• Quay County Government, Tucumcari, seven cases reported Nov. 10 and three cases reported Nov. 17.

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.

Tucumcari Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield said during the city commission’s meeting Thursday the county courthouse was “full of COVID.”

City Commissioner Ralph Moya said the spread of the Delta variant of the virus was “pretty bad” locally.

He said a few residents reported to him that those seeking booster shots were directed by the state’s database to go to sites in Clovis and Santa Rosa instead of locally. Moya said he called the DOH to correct the problem, which it did.

Moya said he feared the state would impose new lockdowns because of high COVID-19 caseloads, and he urged residents to wear their masks in public to help prevent that.

“If we do simple things, we won’t have them here,” he said of the lockdowns.

Schools close

The Logan and San Jon school districts each announced early last week they were going to remote-only instruction through Nov. 29 because of the spread of the virus.

Logan superintendent Dennis Roch stated in a Nov. 15 letter posted on the district’s website that “a number of students who attend our school” had tested positive for the virus.

The district was closing the school building “because of the risk of widespread exposure.”

“During this remote period, our facilities staff will be deep cleaning the school, especially those areas of the school (including buses) in which any COVID-19 positive individual(s) spent time,” the letter stated.

San Jon superintendent Janet Gladu stated in a Nov. 16 letter posted on Facebook “our COVID-19 positive rates have climbed above 5% and our cases have spread out across grade levels and staff.”

The closing of San Jon’s school also prompted it to postpone or cancel two girls basketball games and three boys basketball games. The Missoula Children’s Theatre production at the school also will be rescheduled.

Other numbers

In New Mexico, a total of 1,844 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, bringing the total to more than 301,000 since the pandemic began.

The state is averaging over 1,300 cases per day.

Twenty-three COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total to 5,263.

A total of 548 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an increase of 40 from the previous week. That is the highest number of hospitalizations since January.

The Amarillo metro region on Friday totaled 2,569 active cases of the disease, an increase of about 500 from the previous week.

The active-case count was about 300 earlier this summer.

The disease has killed 930 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 47.6 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 770,000 deaths, through Friday.

Vaccinations

The Quay County Family Health Center in Tucumcari on Thursday administered 47 doses of the recently approved pediatric Pfizer vaccine for children age 5 to 11.

The clinic had received 100 doses of the vaccine the previous week. Anyone interested in getting their child vaccinated will need to call the clinic at 575-461-2200 to be scheduled.

Administrator Renee Hayoz said during the Quay County Commission meeting Monday her clinic was tentatively planning a mass-vaccination event for booster shots on Dec. 8 at the Tucumcari Convention Center.

She said her clinic has about 400 people on its waiting list for boosters, and she wanted to get as many booster shots administered as possible before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

County manager Daniel Zamora suggested that if the convention center wasn’t available on that date due to renovation work, he said he could make the county fairgrounds available for a mass-vaccination event.

Bestcare Pharmacy in Tucumcari also recently received 100 doses of the pediatric vaccine but administered only two through Friday morning, said pharmacist Tom Robinson.

The pharmacy can be contaced at 575-461-1200 for vaccine appointments.

Parents can sign up those children for vaccinations at the state’s portal at vaccineNM.org/kids or their health provider. The Department of Health’s vaccination line also is available at 855-600-3453, option 3.

New Mexico residents age 18 and over may now schedule a booster shot if:

• They received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine more than two months ago, or;

• They completed the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine series more than six months ago.

Health Secretary David Scrase said the state was considering whether to revise the full-vaccination criteria to those who have received their booster shots.

According to state data Friday, 49.5% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 0.4% from the previous week.

About 54.7% of Quay County residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.4% from the previous week.

In New Mexico, 73.9% of eligible residents had been fully vaccinated by Friday, with 84.7% receiving one dose of vaccine.