COVID-19 cases decline in county, state

The total number of new COVID-19 cases in Quay County last week declined to 10 on Friday, compared to 15 during the previous week.

The state of New Mexico also was seeing significant decreases in new confirmed cases of the virus.

According to the COVID Act Now website, Quay County’s rate of new cases fell to 121.1 cases per 100,000 people last week, compared to 193.9 the previous week.

The website kept the county at “low” risk of community spread of the disease. The website also on Friday dropped the state of New Mexico to “low” risk of spread.

Neighboring Guadalupe and De Baca counties saw the worst and second-worst rate of new infections in New Mexico respectively, both near 300 per 100,000 people. That number, however, was significantly lower than worst-rate counties during previous weeks.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,478 by Friday.

The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Wednesday was 1,887 in Tucumcari, 362 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.

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. No deaths have been reported in the county since late October.

A total of 424 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 655,000.

New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate declined to 397 by Friday. The rate was 606 the previous week.

A total of 185 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a decline of eight from the previous week. Hospitals, however, remain crowded due to cases of influenza, strep and RSV.

Two COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday. The pandemic’s overall toll stood at 8,763.

In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases rose for the seventh straight week. The total Friday increased to 1,564, compared to 1,262 a week ago.

The disease has killed 1,314 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began more than two years ago. Two deaths were reported last week.

In the U.S., about 99.6 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.1 million deaths, on Saturday.

The New Mexico Department of Health last week announced more free, at-home COVID-19 tests can be ordered through the federal government and shipped by mail. They can be obtained through covid.gov/tests.

Residents also can receive free, at-home tests by mail through the Rockefeller Foundation’s Project Act program at accesscovidtests.org.

The New Mexico Department of Health’s vaccination helpline is available at 855-600-3453, option 3, or by going to vaccinenm.org.

The DOH recommends COVID-19 drugs for those who have contracted the disease in its early stages and are at 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.