Two COVID deaths reported in county

Two more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Quay County last week as the state continued to see case numbers at or near record-highs.

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, the latest deaths in the county were:

• A woman in her 90s who had underlying conditions;

• A man in his 60s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

The total number of deaths since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 37. More than three-quarters of the county’s deaths have occurred since late May.

A total of 89 confirmed cases of the virus were reported in Quay County last week, which compared to 104 the previous week and 45 the week before that.

The total number of cases in the county rose to 1,815 since the pandemic began in spring 2020.

Because Quay County reported hundreds of cases of the Delta variant in November and December, the Quay County Sun asked New Mexico Health Secretary David Scrase during a health briefing whether people with those recent infections would have any resistance to the now-dominant Omicron variant.

Initially answering “yes and no,” Scrase said prior infections do seem to help against Omicron, but added there was “no guarantee” a recent Delta infection would prove effective against it. He recommended vaccinations, including boosters, to prevent severe illness.

The state was seeing record or near-record numbers of cases last week and averaged over 5,000 cases daily. Two counties next to Quay County — Curry and San Miguel — experienced triple-digit numbers of new cases on Friday.

Scrase said modeling teams are projecting the Omicron case count in New Mexico will peak between Jan. 28 and Feb. 2.

According to state epidemiology reports, Quay County’s COVID-19 case rate shot up to 137.8 new cases per 100,000 people from Jan. 4 to Jan. 17, nearly double from the previous reporting period. However, because case rates are soaring so high in New Mexico, Quay County ranked in the bottom quarter of the state.

Neighboring De Baca County continued to see caseloads of well over 200 per 100,000 people, ranking in the top 10. McKinley County saw the state’s worst rate, with 302.9.

The breakdown of COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,384 in Tucumcari, 269 in Logan, 86 in San Jon, 26 in House, 17 in McAlister, 17 in Bard and 13 in Nara Visa. New cases were spread throughout the county, but mostly in Tucumcari.

A total of 1,502 people in the county were deemed by the DOH to have recovered from the virus.

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

• House Junior High School, one case reported Jan. 14;

• Mesalands Community College, Tucumcari, one case reported Jan. 14 and Jan. 20;

• Tucumcari Public Schools, three cases reported Jan. 18; one case reported Jan. 19 and two cases reported Jan. 20;

• New Mexico State Parks, Tucumcari, one case reported Jan. 18;

• ENMR Plateau Telecommunications, Tucumcari, one case reported Jan. 18;

• Fairfield Inn, Tucumcari, one case reported Jan. 19;

• Tucumcari High School, one case reported Jan. 20;

• Quay County Family Health Center, Tucumcari, one was reported Jan. 20.

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.

Masks, tests

Scrase recommended New Mexico residents obtain a better-quality mask against the more infectious Omicron variant.

He said the state recently acquired 500,000 masks of the K95 or N95 variety that effectively filter the virus when worn properly.

The Biden Administration also said it would give away 400 million N95 masks this week from the government’s National Strategic Stockpile. The masks will be available for pickup at pharmacies and community health centers.

The administration also is offering free rapid COVID-19 tests that can be shipped to homes. They can be ordered at COVIDtests.gov or calling 800-232-0233 or 888-720-7489.

Department of Health spokeswoman Katie Diffendorfer also confirmed Tucumcari would be among the ZIP codes that would receive rapid home COVID-19 tests that have been in short supply nationwide.

Diffendorfer said she was unaware of how many tests would be sent to Tucumcari.

“Tests are constantly arriving in the state and being distributed very quickly,” she stated in an email.

Other numbers

A total of 6,198 new cases of coronavirus were reported in New Mexico on Friday.

That raised the total since the pandemic began in spring 2020 to more than 437,000.

Thirty COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total to 6,259.

A total of 633 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an increase of 47 from the previous week.

Scrase said he was unsure whether the Omicron variant would cause fewer deaths, but he was encouraged by reports that fewer such cases required a ventilator.

He said the state’s hospitals no longer were using monoclonal antibodies as a COVID-19 treatment because they are not effective against the variant.

While still relatively low compared to the rest of the population, Scrase said the state is reporting a record number of child hospitalizations due to the virus.

The total number of active cases in the Amarillo metro region shot up to more than 10,800 by Friday, an increase of almost 4,000 from the previous week. The active-case count in the metro was about 300 last summer.

The metro area’s hospitalization rate reached 26.1%, a jump of five percentage points in one week.

The disease has killed 1,043 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., more than 70 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with more than 864,000 deaths, on Saturday.

Vaccinations

A mobile vaccine unit will make a stop at Mesalands Community College from Feb. 8 to Feb. 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

It will offer Pfizer and Moderna vaccines for individuals age 12 and up and Pfizer vaccines for children age 5 to 11. Walk-in patients will be welcome, with no identification and no insurance necessary.

Local health providers also are offering shots by appointment.

Scrase continued to recommend those who are vaccinated receive a booster shot. He said those with a booster shot have a death rate of 0.01%, compared to 0.35% for the vaccinated without a booster and 1.26% for the unvaccinated.

According to state data through Friday, 52% of Quay County residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus. That was an increase of 0.3% from the previous week.

About 59.6% of county residents have received one shot of COVID-19 vaccine through Friday, an increase of 0.9% from the previous week.

In New Mexico, 77% of eligible residents had been fully vaccinated by Friday, with 91% receiving at least one dose of vaccine.

Residents can schedule vaccinations through the state’s registration portal at VaccineNM.org. Parents can sign up children over age 5 for vaccinations at the state’s portal at vaccineNM.org/kids or their health provider.

The Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3.