Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County’s number of new cases of COVID-19 quadrupled last week, but New Mexico’s top health official said he didn’t foresee the imposition of new mandates, including masks, because of the lesser severity of a new Omicron subvariant spreading through the state.
A total of 43 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported in Quay County last week. That compares to 10 the previous week. The county has experienced three straight weeks of double-digit numbers of cases.
As recently as early May, the county went for two straight weeks without any cases reported.
The total number of coronavirus cases in the county since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,075.
The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,602 in Tucumcari, 288 in Logan, 96 in San Jon, 34 in House, 21 in McAlister, 18 in Bard and 14 in Nara Visa. All the new cases last week were in Tucumcari or Logan.
One confirmed COVID-19 death in Quay County was reported last week. The county’s death toll from the virus rose at 58 since the pandemic began more than two years ago. A total of 50 coronavirus deaths have occurred in the county in a little more than a year.
The state’s Environment Department reported these rapid responses for COVID-19 employee infections reported at these entities last week:
• Yesway in San Jon, one case reported June 6;
• Eastern Plains Early Head Start in Tucumcari, two cases reported June 6;
• Circle K on South First Street in Tucumcari, one case reported June 8;
• Mesalands Community College in Tucumcari, one case reported June 8.
Nearly 1,000 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 544,000.
New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate rose to 891 by Friday. The rate was 680 the previous week.
A total of 130 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, an increase of two from the previous week.
Seven COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the total to more than 7,873.
State epidemiologist Christine Ross said despite the rise of COVID-19 cases due to the highly infectious Omicron subvariant, New Mexico’s hospitalization and intensive-care admissions were comparatively low. Health Secretary David Scrase also said the rate of new intubations of patients also was flat.
Ross surmised residents are partly protected from severe illness from the subvariant due to vaccines or having previously contracted the disease.
“We clearly are in a different pandemic,” she said.
“We’re in a much better situation than before,” Scrase said.
When asked about the possibility of new health mandates in New Mexico, Scrase said that was unlikely.
“I don’t think we’re thinking of that because we have so many tools,” he said, mostly referring to new drugs that can lessen the severity of COVID-19 if they’re taken early during an infection.
Scrase continued to advocate the usual COVID-19 precautions: booster vaccines, avoiding crowds, wearing masks in higher-risk situations and regular hand-washing.
In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases on Friday continued to climb sharply. The number rose from 352 to 578 in one week.
The disease has killed 1,275 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.
In the U.S., more than 85.4 million people have been confirmed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with over 1.01 million deaths, through Saturday.
New Mexico residents can schedule vaccinations through the state’s registration portal at VaccineNM.org. The Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3.
The Department of Health recommends COVID-19 drugs for those who have contracted the disease in its early stages and are at high risk for serious illness. These drugs are highly effective at preventing hospitalization and death but must be taken within days of the first symptom.