New Mexico COVID-19 Cases: 8,672

State unveils new resources for tracking gating criteria and medical studies

By Julia Goldberg

New Mexico remains mostly on track in six areas established as "gating criteria" for the current phase of reopening that went into effect on June 1. And residents can now monitor that criteria online.

Human Services Secretary David Scrase unveiled the website in a COVID-19 webinar update with press this afternoon. The format—a break from the usual weekly public updates with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Health Secretary Kathy Kunkel—delved a bit deeper into modeling updates, evolving medical literature and other topics related to the virus, such as various mask studies and Sweden's failed attempt at herd immunity.

The presentation occurred several hours before today's COVID-19 test results were released. The health department is now reporting 331 new positive test results, bringing the total statewide number of cases to 8,672. Of those new cases, 116 were among people being held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility and 13 were state inmates at the same prison. Between people in federal and state custody, that facility now has 491 cases.

McKinley and San Juan counties had the next highest number of cases: 77 and 52, respectively. The northwest sector continues to have the highest prevalence of cases, Scrase said, in New Mexico and one of the highest rates of prevalence in the US (the darker the color, the higher the prevalence in the graphic below).

As of today, 175 people are hospitalized and the health department has designated 3,206 COVID-19 cases as recovered.

As for that last data point, the state says it will begin posting recoveries by county, as SFR and other outlets have requested, on its data dashboard in the coming days. And for those interested in more information on the process for designating cases as recovered, that information is online; the state also has a site dedicated to literature and resources from its Medical Advisory Team.

The state also reported four new deaths today, bringing the total number of fatalities to 387. A complete report of new cases, deaths and statewide totals is available at the end of this story.

Overall, the state is currently meeting most of its gating criteria, with the exception of quarantining contacts of a known COVID-19 case within 36 hours. Currently, the state is at 50 hours. The new site, which Scrase says he checks daily, updates regularly and includes the status for effective rate of spread; testing capacity; contact tracing; hospital and ICU beds; and personal protective equipment supply.

Seven-day rolling averages for the state show that all regions are beginning to drop. "Overall, New Mexico had a peak around May 1, been a bit choppy…but finally, finally we're seeing a drop off. We were hoping to see that sooner, but sometimes those curves go up and come back down the way they went up just as steeply," Scrase said.

As for whether the current Black Lives Matter protests will impact the state's current good standing with COVID-19, Scrase said he "would assume there is a very high probability there will be more cases. I did not monitor those protests… I know there will be more cases and whether it will be what people call a spike, let's see."

Questions from media were submitted in the webinar's "chat" function, with some answered directly by Scrase, others via chat and some not at all. SFR asked whether Los Alamos National Laboratory will incorporate the protests into its forecasting used by state modelers. A written response said:

"With the modeling [it's] difficult to predict/model the impact of the recent demonstrations, but what we can do is review future analyses and detect changes in rate of spread and other data. The Governor continues to encourage [COVID-19] safe practices and we're pleased that many of these organizers are promoting these practices as well."

New cases

  • 19 new cases in Bernalillo County
  • 4 new cases in Cibola County
  • 5 new cases in Curry County
  • 28 new cases in Doña Ana County
  • 2 new cases in Eddy County
  • 3 new cases in Lea County
  • 2 new cases in Luna County
  • 77 new cases in McKinley County
  • 2 new cases in Otero County
  • 2 new cases in Rio Arriba County
  • 2 new cases in Sandoval County
  • 52 new cases in San Juan County
  • 1 new case in Santa Fe County
  • 1 new case in Torrance County
  • 1 new case in Union County
  • 1 new case in Valencia County
  • 116 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
  • 13 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility

New fatalities

  • A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of Genesis Uptown Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque.
  • A male in his 80s from McKinley County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup.
  • A male in his 60s in Otero County who was hospitalized, had underlying conditions and was a New Mexico Corrections Department inmate at the Otero County Prison Facility.
  • A male in his 60s from San Juan County who had underlying conditions.

Congregate facilities

The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following facilities:

  • Advanced Health Care of Albuquerque in Albuquerque
  • Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
  • Avamere Rehab at Fiesta Park in Albuquerque
  • Aztec Health Care in Aztec
  • Bear Canyon Nursing and Rehab Center in Albuquerque
  • Beehive Homes in Farmington
  • Belen Meadows in Belen
  • Bonney Family Home in Gallup
  • Brookdale Tramway Ridge in Albuquerque
  • Camino Healthcare in Albuquerque
  • Camino Retirement Apartments in Albuquerque
  • Casa De Oro Center in Las Cruces
  • Casa Del Sol Center in Las Cruces
  • Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell
  • Cedar Ridge Inn in Farmington
  • Central Desert Behavioral Health in Albuquerque
  • Clayton Nursing and Rehab in Clayton
  • Dungarvin New Mexico, LLC in Gallup
  • Genesis Uptown Rehabilitation Center
  • Good Samaritan Society in Grants
  • Heartland Continuing Care Center in Portales
  • The Jim Wood Home in Hatch
  • Laguna Rainbow Elderly Care in Casa Blanca
  • La Vida Llena in Albuquerque
  • Legacy Santa Fe in Santa Fe
  • Life Care Center of Farmington in Farmington
  • Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup
  • McKinley Care Center in Gallup
  • Mission Arch Center in Roswell
  • MorningStar Assisted Living & Memory Care of Santa Fe in Santa Fe
  • Pacifica Senior Living Center Santa Fe in Santa Fe
  • Prime Care Assisted Living in Albuquerque
  • Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup
  • Retirement Ranches, Inc. in Clovis
  • Robin House Assisted Living Center in Albuquerque
  • San Juan Center in Farmington
  • South Valley Care Center in Albuquerque
  • Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites in Albuquerque
  • Sundance Care Home in Gallup
  • Tohatchi Area Opportunity Services (TAOS) in Tohatchi
  • The Village at Alameda in Albuquerque
  • The Village at Northrise in Las Cruces
  • Wellbrook Transitional Rehabilitation Center in Farmington

Statewide cases

Per a state news release, previously reported numbers included eight cases that have been identified as duplicates: three in Bernalillo County, one in Chaves County, one in McKinley County, one in San Juan County, one in Sandoval County, and one among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility. Two cases in Doña Ana County have been determined to be out-of-state residents; and two cases that were not lab confirmed—one in McKinley County, one in Santa Fe County—have now been corrected. County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.

  • Bernalillo County: 1,559
  • Catron County: 2
  • Chaves County: 50
  • Cibola County: 152
  • Colfax County: 5
  • Curry County: 62
  • Doña Ana County: 535
  • Eddy County: 28
  • Grant County: 15
  • Guadalupe County: 20
  • Harding County: 1
  • Hidalgo County: 1
  • Lea County: 29
  • Lincoln County: 5
  • Los Alamos County: 6
  • Luna County: 11
  • McKinley County: 2,617
  • Otero County: 25
  • Quay County: 5
  • Rio Arriba County: 54
  • Roosevelt County: 42
  • Sandoval County: 579
  • San Juan County: 1,893
  • San Miguel County: 15
  • Santa Fe County: 150
  • Sierra County: 1
  • Socorro County: 54
  • Taos County: 31
  • Torrance County: 34
  • Union County: 5
  • Valencia County: 81

Cases among people being held by federal agencies

  • Cibola County Correctional Center: 2
  • Otero County Prison Facility: 272
  • Otero County Processing Center: 92
  • Torrance County Detention Facility: 18

Cases among people being held by the Mexico Department of Corrections

  • Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 1
  • Otero County Prison Facility: 219
  • Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1

*Per the health department, hospitalization figures include people who were tested elsewhere but are hospitalized in New Mexico, but don't include people who were tested here but are hospitalized out of state.

Letters to the Editor

Mail letters to PO Box 4910 Santa Fe, NM 87502 or email them to editor[at]sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.

We also welcome you to follow SFR on social media (on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and comment there. You can also email specific staff members from our contact page.