COVID spread risk drops after one-week spike

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Quay County remained stable for a third straight week, and a website that tracks community spread of the virus reported the region’s risk had declined.

The county’s number of cases last week was six, compared to eight the previous week.

According to the COVID Act Now website, the county’s rate of new cases rose dropped by almost half — 48.5 cases per 100,000 people last week, compared to 90.9 the previous week.

COVID Act Now on Friday also dropped Quay County’s risk of community spread of the disease from “high” to “medium.”

COVID-19 admissions in the Curry-Roosevelt Health Service Area fell from 21.9 to 14.2 for every 100,000 residents in one week. That put it in the “medium” range.

The previous week, that rate of admissions put Quay County and neighboring counties such as Curry, De Baca and Roosevelt at the “high” range of admissions for the first time in more than a year.

Those counties also dropped into the “medium” range. The rest of New Mexico was considered low risk for community spread.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Quay County since the pandemic began in spring 2020 rose to 2,549 by Friday, reported the New Mexico Department of Health.

The breakdown of total COVID-19 cases by ZIP code in Quay County through Friday was 1,935 in Tucumcari, 375 in Logan, 119 in San Jon, 46 in House, 30 in McAlister, 21 in Nara Visa and 20 in Bard since the pandemic began almost three years ago.

The new cases last week were reported in the Tucumcari, Logan and San Jon ZIP codes.

No confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Quay County were reported last week, keeping the death toll at 70 since the pandemic began nearly three years ago.

A total of 185 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday in New Mexico. That raised the total since the pandemic began to more than 665,000.

New Mexico’s seven-day daily case rate dropped to 107 by Friday. The rate was 151 the previous week.

A total of 73 people were hospitalized in New Mexico with the disease Friday, a rise of one from the previous week.

Ten COVID-19 deaths were reported in the state Friday. The pandemic’s overall toll rose to 8,968.

In the Amarillo metro region, the total number of active cases declined. The total Friday decreased to 1,189, compared to 1,368 a week ago.

The disease has killed 1,324 people in the Amarillo metro since the pandemic began.

In the U.S., about 102 million COVID-19 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began, with more than 1.12 million deaths, through Saturday.

The White House announced last week it was planning to end the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency on May 11. That move could have implications on the cost of vaccines and tests to the public.

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.