NM Health Officials Keeping an Eye on Texas

State reports 359 new COVID-19 cases and 13 more deaths

By Julia Goldberg

With Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announcing yesterday that he was both lifting the state's mask mandate and allowing businesses to open next week at 100%, New Mexico health officials say they are keeping an eye out for any impact here.

In a news conference today, Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said the state regularly tracks a variety of data for neighboring states such as Texas, including hospital bed availability in cities such as Amarillo, Lubbock and El Paso. "It makes no sense to assume our pandemic is contained within our borders," Scrase said. "I feel pretty confident that we not only have the pulse of what's going on in Texas but can look at that weeks in advance."

State epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross added that New Mexico monitors not just Texas, but Arizona and Colorado as well, reiterating: "We keep a close eye on the border," she said. "We know there's movement across state lines."

Bottom line: "Please don't take your lead from another state," Scrase said. "We do not believe this is the time to back off on [COVID-safe practices] restraining the spread of the virus."

With the exception of four counties, most of New Mexico is out of the red under the state's red-to-green county-level framework following last week's update.  However, Scrase also noted that the statewide decline has begun to level off and advised a bit of caution even amongst what is overall good news for the state.

"If you look at the very end of that graph, we've leveled off," he said, identifying the slight bump highlighted in the graph below with the date marker of 2.25.2021. "Leveling off means we're not all riding the same wave and that things could be a little more unstable as a result of that. When this case curve levels off and gets flat, that mans the potential for a county with an outbreak to go back to red is much higher."

That leveling off reflects a national pattern. In a White House COVID-19 briefing today, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said the US continues "to see troubling signs in the trajectory of the pandemic…with the most recent declines in cases and deaths continuing to show signs of stalling. We knew this could happen as variants emerged and reached more people in more communities, but we can still reduce their impact. "

New Mexico also is keeping an eye on variants, Ross said today, with the state's Scientific Lab Division taking the lead on surveillance efforts. Thus far, eight cases of the B117 variant have been detected, she said.

Mostly, however, New Mexico continues to see decreasing cases, with models now showing that vaccinations are lowering COVID-19 incidents by approximately 50%, he said.

The state anticipates being able to order 87,800 doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines for next week, according to Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins, a slight increase from the more than 80,000 received this week.

However, doses of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine are unlikely to be available for a few weeks as production ramps up under a new agreement between the company and competitor Merck. New Mexico received an initial 17,200 Johnson & Johnson doses this week and surveyed 10 counties with lower vaccination rates for potential distribution, according to Health Department Communications Director Matt Bieber. Eight were ready to receive, including Santa Fe County, as well as Rio Arriba, Bernalillo, Eddy, Doña Ana, Valencia, Otero and Luna counties. In Santa Fe County, 21.6% of residents are partially vaccinated; 12.3% are fully vaccinated, according to the state's vaccine dashboard.

Santa Fe County ranks high, however, for registration for a vaccine, data the state has added to its vaccine dashboard. Statewide, 677,717 have registered with the state to receive a vaccine. In Santa Fe County, 56% of residents have registered for a vaccine, the third highest percentage following Los Alamos County with 69.6% and Taos County with 56.5%.

The state has currently administered 603,463 cumulative doses—94% of what it has received, placing it consistently in the top three for for speed of vaccination and present first for percent of doses used.

Collins also provided a statement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham regarding President Joe Biden's directive yesterday for states to prioritize vaccinating teachers. Currently, Collins said, New Mexico has vaccinated approximately 14,000 teachers and staff, and has thousands more registered for vaccinations. Teachers are among the group next in line in the current Phase1B for vaccinations, but also can be eligible now if they are older than 75 years old or have a qualifying underlying condition.

"We are in conversations with the White House to understand how we roll out," Collins said. "That was the next group in line for us, so we're going to work closely in order to figure out how to make this happen."

As a result of Biden's directive, the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program is now prioritizing teachers and child care staff, who can theoretically now sign up at a local pharmacy. While New Mexico's health department does not provide information about pharmacy availability, residents can search for pharmacy information through the CDC-sanctioned VaccineFinder.org site.

New Mexico health officials today reported 359 new COVID-19 cases. Today's case number tracks close to the worst-case scenario from this week's modeling report by Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Bernalillo County had 102 cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 56 and Sandoval County with 22. Santa Fe County had 13 new cases. Lea County Correctional Facility has 37 new cases among state inmates, following an outbreak of close to 200 cases there reported last week; there have now been 716 COVID-19 cases at that facility.

There have now been 185,898 COVID-19 cases in New Mexico; the health department has designated 150,168 of them as recovered.

The state also announced 13 additional deaths; there have now been 3,753 fatalities.

As of today, 195 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.*

New cases

  • 102 new cases in Bernalillo County
  • 13 new cases in Chaves County
  • 9 new cases in Cibola County
  • 7 new cases in Curry County
  • 56 new cases in Doña Ana County
  • 16 new cases in Eddy County
  • 6 new cases in Grant County
  • 1 new case in Hidalgo County
  • 5 new cases in Lea County
  • 6 new cases in Lincoln County
  • 10 new cases in Luna County
  • 6 new cases in McKinley County
  • 7 new cases in Otero County
  • 10 new cases in Rio Arriba County
  • 1 new case in Roosevelt County
  • 22 new cases in Sandoval County
  • 8 new cases in San Juan County
  • 1 new case in San Miguel County
  • 13 new cases in Santa Fe County
  • 3 new cases in Sierra County
  • 1 new case in Socorro County
  • 6 new cases in Taos County
  • 1 new case in Torrance County
  • 12 new cases in Valencia County
  • 37 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility

New fatalities

  • A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Las Palomas Center in Albuquerque
  • A male in his 90s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized
  • A male in his 60s from Luna County
  • A female in her 80s from Luna County
  • A female in her 60s from Otero County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A female in her 80s from Otero County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 80s from Otero County who was hospitalized
  • A female in her 70s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 60s from Sandoval County who was a resident of the The Retreat Healthcare facility in Rio Rancho
  • A female in her 60s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
  • A male in his 80s from San Miguel County who was hospitalized

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:

  • Adobe Assisted Living in Las Cruces
  • Advanced Health Care in Albuquerque
  • The Aldea House – Heaven Sent LLC in Albuquerque
  • The Aristocrat Assisted Living Center in Alamogordo
  • Artesia Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center in Artesia
  • Atria Vista Del Rio in Albuquerque
  • Avamere at Rio Rancho
  • BeeHive Homes Edgewood
  • BeeHive Homes Farmington
  • BeeHive Homes Gallup
  • BeeHive Homes Taylor Ranch in Albuquerque
  • 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
  • Casa del Sol Center in Las Cruces
  • Clovis Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
  • Colfax Long-Term Care Center in Springer
  • 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
  • Odelia Healthcare (Camino Healthcare) in Albuquerque
  • Princeton Place in Albuquerque
  • Ravenna Assisted Living in Albuquerque
  • The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
  • Rio Rancho Center
  • 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

Statewide cases

According to a health department news release, previously reported numbers included three cases that have been identified as duplicates (one in Bernalillo County and two in Doña Ana County), which 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: 52,783
  • Catron County: 83
  • Chaves County: 8,644
  • Cibola County: 2,757
  • Colfax County: 702
  • Curry County: 4,934
  • De Baca County: 132
  • Doña Ana County: 22,876
  • Eddy County: 6,487
  • Grant County: 1,505
  • Guadalupe County: 362
  • Harding County: 8
  • Hidalgo County: 350
  • Lea County: 8,050
  • Lincoln County: 1,550
  • Los Alamos County: 483
  • Luna County: 3,109
  • McKinley County: 12,050
  • Mora County: 161
  • Otero County: 3,340
  • Quay County: 420
  • Rio Arriba County: 3,420
  • Roosevelt County: 1,840
  • Sandoval County: 10,893
  • San Juan County: 13,549
  • San Miguel County: 1,234
  • Santa Fe County: 9,612
  • Sierra County: 703
  • Socorro County: 1,225
  • Taos County: 1,542
  • Torrance County: 646
  • Union County: 237
  • Valencia County: 6,177

Cases among people being held by federal agencies

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

Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections

  • Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 288
  • Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 251
  • Lea County Correctional Facility: 716
  • 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

*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.

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