Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County’s new cases of coronavirus appear to have declined to a low and stable level, prompting a lowering of the risk of its spread by a prominent website that tracks the disease.
The county’s COVID-19 cases totaled 15 last week, compared to 15 during the previous week reported by the New Mexico Department of Health.
That’s a far cry from early August, when the county experienced 67 cases in one week, the highest it had been since the Delta variant ravaged the region last year.
In response to the subsequent drop-off and apparent stabilization of cases, the COVID Act Now website last week upgraded Quay County from “medium” to “low” risk of community spread of the disease.
Almost all of Quay County’s neighbors also dropped into the low risk of the disease’s spread except De Baca, which was at medium risk. Only three counties in all of New Mexico were at high risk.
According to COVID Act Now, Quay County’s rate dropped to 181 cases per 100,000 people in the previous week, compared to 230 the previous week.
At one point in early August, Quay County had the worst spread rate in the state.
With last week’s data, the total number of coronavirus cases in the county since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,322.
The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,780 in Tucumcari, 329 in Logan, 108 in San Jon, 41 in House, 25 in McAlister, 20 in Nara Visa and 18 in Bard.
The new cases last week were reported in the ZIP codes of Tucumcari, Logan, San Jon and House.
No confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Quay County were reported last week, keeping the death toll at 67 since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
COVID Act Now also lowered New Mexico from from “medium” to “low” risk of community spread of COVID-19.
New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate declined to 531 by Friday. The rate was 581 the previous week.
A total of 572 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 609,000.
A total of 126 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decline of nearly 20 from the previous week. The state has been seeing far fewer hospitalizations during the latest surge of the disease.
A total of seven COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the pandemic’s overall total to 8,399.
In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases on Friday continued to show a slow decline after weeks of steep increases. That total that day was 1,900, compared to 2,073 a week ago.
The disease has killed 1,301 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
In the U.S., about 94.2 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.04 million deaths, through Saturday.
New Mexico residents can schedule vaccinations for themselves or their children through the state’s registration portal at VaccineNM.org. The New Mexico Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3.
The state 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. More information on finding these treatments can be found at FindATreatmentNM.com.