DOH reports 659 new COVID-19 cases, 14 additional deaths

The streak of days with 500 or fewer newly reported cases of COVID-19 was ended on Friday after nearly two weeks, when the state reported 659 new cases, along with 14 additional deaths.

The new increase of cases came largely with 209 new cases in Bernalillo County and 191 at the Lea County Correctional Facility. Doña Ana County, with 58, was the only other county with even 30 newly reported cases.

DOH has now found 184,736 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic and reported 3,685 deaths related to the disease. Of the confirmed cases, 141,833 are designated as recovered by the department. 

As of Friday, DOH reported 226 people were hospitalized for COVID-19, the lowest number since Oct. 13. This could include those from other states who are hospitalized in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexico residents who are hospitalized in other states.

DOH provided some information on each of the 14 newly reported deaths Friday.

• A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized.
• A second female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was a resident of the Life Spire Assisted Living North Albuquerque Acres facility in Albuquerque.
• A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
• A female in her 90s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Ravenna Assisted Living facility in Albuquerque.
• A second female in her 90s from Bernalillo County who was a resident of the Princeton Place facility in Albuquerque.
• A male in his 90s from Bernalillo County.
• A male in his 50s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions.
• A male in his 70s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions.
• A female in her 60s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
• A female in her 90s from Otero County.
• A female in her 60s from San Juan County.
• A male in his 90s from Sierra County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Sierra Health Care Center in Truth or Consequences.
• A female in her 70s from Valencia County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
• A male in his 90s from Valencia County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

DOH does not disclose which underlying condition any of the deceased had, only if one was present before death.

The most common underlying condition for those who died with COVID-19 was hypertension, followed by diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to the most recently available mortality update. Some of those who died had multiple comorbidities.

The New Mexico Environment Department’s Rapid Response COVID-19 Watchlist had 42 establishments listed as of Monday. These workplaces had two or more COVID-19 rapid responses in the last 14 days.

Gating criteria

The number of daily cases, on a seven-day rolling average, continued to fall and reached 262 as of Feb. 19, the latest day for which the state has full data.

The number of tests, on a seven-day rolling average, as of Feb. 25 reached 11,886. It had dropped as low as 9,330 as of Feb. 19. The test positivity rate continued to fall, and reached 3.4 percent on a seven-day rolling average  as of Feb. 25.

The rate of spread, however, has grown to 0.99, as of Feb. 25. The state hopes to keep this number at or below 1.05. Anything under 1.0 means the number of cases is dropping. The rate of spread remained under 1.05 in all regions except the northeast, which had a spread rate of 1.19.

Testing details

The state coronavirus information page says the state has processed 2,669,565 tests as of Monday, 17,355 more than reported on Thursday. The 659 positive cases Friday represented 3.8 percent of the newly reported tests, though this calculation is not the same as the one used by the state for its gating criteria, since it uses raw data.

The total number of cases per county, as of Friday, are as follows:

• Bernalillo County: 52,421
• Catron County: 83
• Chaves County: 8,608
• Cibola County: 2,731
• Colfax County: 708
• Curry County: 4,904
• De Baca County: 132
• Doña Ana County: 22,679
• Eddy County: 6,441
• Grant County: 1,482
• Guadalupe County: 355
• Harding County: 8
• Hidalgo County: 347
• Lea County: 8,030
• Lincoln County: 1,536
• Los Alamos County: 480
• Luna County: 3,089
• McKinley County: 12,013
• Mora County: 161
• Otero County: 3,284
• Quay County: 419
• Rio Arriba County: 3,400
• Roosevelt County: 1,836
• Sandoval County: 10,841
• San Juan County: 13,510
• San Miguel County: 1,225
• Santa Fe County: 9,576
• Sierra County: 697
• Socorro County: 1,216
• Taos County: 1,528
• Torrance County: 635
• Union County: 237
• Valencia County: 6,134

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the following facilities:

• Cibola County Correctional Center: 444
• Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 443
• Otero County Processing Center: 197
• Torrance County Detention Facility: 47

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by the New Mexico Corrections Department at the following facilities:

• Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 288
• Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 251
• Lea County Correctional Facility: 672
• Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 166
• Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 123
• Otero County Prison Facility: 472
• Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 215
• Roswell Correctional Center: 229
• Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 218
• Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 151
• Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 74

DOH has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at 58 long-term care facilities:

• Adobe Assisted Living in Las Cruces
• Advanced Health Care in Albuquerque
• The Aldea House – Heaven Sent LLC in Albuquerque
• Artesia Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Artesia
• Atria Vista Del Rio in Albuquerque
• Avamere at Rio Rancho
• BeeHive Homes Edgewood
• BeeHive Homes Gallup
• BeeHive Homes Taylor Ranch in Albuquerque
• Bloomfield Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bloomfield
• Brookdale Santa Fe
• Calibre Sagecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Las Cruces
• Care Free Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Carefirst Assisted Living Willow Wood House in Albuquerque
• Casa Arena Blanca Nursing Center in Alamogordo
• Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces
• Clovis Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
• Colfax Long-Term Care Center in Springer
• Fort Bayard Medical Center in Santa Clara
• Genesis Silver City Care Center in Silver City
• Golden Hands Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Good Life Senior Living in Carlsbad
• Good Samaritan Society – Betty Dare in Alamogordo
• Good Samaritan Society Socorro
• Ladera Center in Albuquerque
• Laguna Rainbow Care Center in Casa Blanca
• Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad
• Landmark at Desert Gardens in Hobbs
• La Posada Assisted Living in Las Cruces
• Las Palomas Center in Albuquerque
• The Legacy at Santa Fe
• Life Spire Assisted Living North Albuquerque Acres in Albuquerque
• McKinley Center in Gallup
• Mimbres Memorial Nursing Home in Deming
• Mission Arch Center in Roswell
• MorningStar Assisted Living and Memory Care of Albuquerque
• The Neighborhood in Rio Rancho Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
• New Mexico State Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences
• Odelia Healthcare (Camino Healthcare) in Albuquerque
• Princeton Place in Albuquerque
• Ravenna Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Retirement Ranches in Clovis
• The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
• Rio Rancho Center
• Sandia Ridge Center in Albuquerque
• Sandia Senior Suites Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Santa Clara Assisted Living in Santa Clara
• Senior Living Systems in Los Lunas
• Sierra Health Care Center in Truth or Consequences
• Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
• Sombrillo Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Los Alamos
• The Suites at Rio Vista in Rio Rancho
• Tercer Cielo 2 in Albuquerque
• Village Retirement Community in Roswell
• Vida Encantada Nursing & Rehabilitation in Las Vegas
• Vista Sandia Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Welbrook Senior Living in Las Cruces
• White Sands Healthcare in Hobbs

This article was originally posted on DOH reports 659 new COVID-19 cases, 14 additional deaths

Sydney Boles