Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
Not only was Quay County dealing with usual coronavirus cases, but it also was experiencing a spike of influenza infections.
Trigg Memorial Hospital and the Quay County Family Health Center, both in Tucumcari, each were reporting elevated caseloads of flu last week.
“We are seeing a pretty big uptick in Flu A cases through the clinic and in the Emergency Department,” Trigg administrator Vickie Gutierrez stated in an email Friday. “COVID-19 cases remain low.”
Renee Hayoz, administrator of the health center, said Friday her clinic has been experiencing many patients with respiratory issues along with the flu.
Health workers there have been requiring patients to wear masks to slow the spread of the virus.
Hayoz said the clinic also was dealing with a nationwide shortage of flu treatments, including Tamiflu and amoxicillin.
She said COVID-19 cases remained low at the clinic. Influenza is less lethal than COVID-19.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the county last week totaled 22 on Friday, compared to seven during an abbreviated previous week. The New Mexico Department of Health did not report data on Thursday or Friday during Thanksgiving week.
According to the COVID Act Now website, Quay County’s rate of new cases jumped to 232.6 cases per 100,000 people last week, from 121.2 the previous week.
The website on Friday continued downgraded the county as “low” to “medium” risk of community spread of the disease.
Neighboring De Baca County continuing to have the third-highest rate of new infections in New Mexico, at 411.9 per 100,000 people. Another neighboring county, Guadalupe, again had the fifth-highest rate, at 372.1 per 100,000.
The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,453 by Friday.
The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Wednesday was 1,870 in Tucumcari, 354 in Logan, 112 in San Jon, 45 in House, 28 in McAlister, 21 in Nara Visa and 20 in Bard since the pandemic began more than two years ago.
New cases last week were reported in the Tucumcari, Logan and House 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. No deaths have been reported in the county since late October.
A total of 650 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 648,000.
New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate rose to 764 by Friday. The rate was 654 the previous week.
A total of 235 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, the same number as the previous week.
No COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday. The pandemic’s overall toll stood at 8,702.
In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases rose for the fifth straight week. The total Friday was 756, compared to 556 a week ago.
The disease has killed 1,310 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began more than two years ago, though no new deaths have been reported for weeks.
In the U.S., about 98.7 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.09 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.