Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Quay County’s number of confirmed coronavirus cases fell somewhat last week, while cases and hospitalizations continued to rise in New Mexico.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the county last week totaled seven, compared to 10 the previous week and six the week before that. The county’s weekly cases had dropped to as low as two in early October.
The COVID Act Now website kept Quay County’s risk rating for community spread of the disease at “low.” Quay County’s rate of new cases remained at 121.2 cases per 100,000 people last week, the same as the previous week.
The neighboring counties of De Baca, Harding and San Miguel each saw elevated case rates of the virus last week. Each was rated at “medium” risk of community spread.
De Baca County was seeing the worst coronavirus infection rate in the New Mexico, at 915.3 cases per 100,000 people.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,403 at the end of last week.
The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,839 in Tucumcari, 340 in Logan, 111 in San Jon, 44 in House, 27 in McAlister, 21 in Nara Visa and 20 in Bard since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
The new cases last week were reported in the Tucumcari and Logan ZIP codes.
No confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Quay County were reported last week, keeping the death toll at 69 since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
A total of 622 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 631,000.
New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate jumped to 500 by Friday, the fifth straight week the rate had risen. The rate was 398 during the previous week.
A total of 135 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a jump of 25 from the previous week.
A total of eight COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday, raising the pandemic’s overall toll to 8,664.
In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases rose Friday after weeks of declines. The total that day was 450, compared to 402 a week ago.
The disease has killed 1,310 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
In the U.S., about 97.5 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.07 million deaths, on Saturday.
The New Mexico Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3, or by going to vaccinenm.org.
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 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.