New Mexico Reports 222 New COVID-19 Cases and Eight Deaths

New Mexico’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy and implementation continues to garner national attention, with the New York Times writing today that “despite having one of the highest poverty rates in the country, New Mexico is surging past states with far more resources in the race to achieve herd immunity against the coronavirus.”

In addition to having a higher percentage of vaccinated residents than any other state, the story points out some of the state’s successes in vaccine equity, as Native Americans’ rate for full vaccination in New Mexico has reached 30.6%, just behind Anglos’ rate at 32.8%. Hispanics and Blacks, who like Native Americans have had higher case rates of COVID-19, still lag in the state’s efforts, with 23.9% and 18.8% of those groups respectively having been fully vaccinated.

Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins will be testifying tomorrow at 8 am before the US Senate Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband in a hearing called “Shot of Truth: Communicating Trusted Vaccine Information.” According to a DOH news release, Collins will be discussing, in part, the state’s vaccine equity plan. US Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, chairs the subcommittee.

“A key component to our success is involving the voices of New Mexicans from across the state,” Collins said in a statement. “We understand that persuasion is built on trust—and that trust is often built on shared experiences. During the past year, we held numerous virtual town hall events and launched our Trusted Voices campaign, which proved essential to continuing honest dialogue within our communities. These programs, coupled with translating COVID-19 materials into many languages at appropriate health literacy levels, are invaluable in building vaccine confidence.”

Tomorrow’s hearing can be viewed here.

The health department had not published its weekly modeling report from Los Alamos National Laboratory by press time, nor had its communication staff responded to an SFR inquiry about it, but a look at the weekly geographical trends report shows several counties with case rates well above the targeted 8 per 100,000. The state, overall, continues to meet seven of its eight gating criteria, with only daily case counts over a 7-day rolling average remaining over the targeted 168 cases per day at 196.

New Mexico health officials today reported 222 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 194,378. The health department has designated 175,600 of those cases as recovered.

Bernalillo County had 75 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 25 and Socorro County with 21. Santa Fe County had 14 new cases,

The state also announced eight additional deaths; there have now been 3,996 fatalities.

As of today, 114 people are hospitalized with COVID-19—11 more than yesterday.*

Currently, 53.7% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 35.7 % are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 51.8% have had at least one dose and 32.5 % are fully inoculated.

New cases

• 75 new cases in Bernalillo County
• 3 new cases in Chaves County
• 3 new cases in Cibola County
• 2 new cases in Colfax County
• 1 new case in Curry County
• 20 new cases in Doña Ana County
• 5 new cases in Eddy County
• 4 new cases in Grant County
• 1 new case in Lea County
• 3 new cases in Lincoln County
• 2 new cases in Los Alamos County
• 4 new cases in McKinley County
• 2 new cases in Otero County
• 7 new cases in Rio Arriba County
• 2 new cases in Roosevelt County
• 17 new cases in Sandoval County
• 25 new cases in San Juan County
• 14 new cases in Santa Fe County
• 2 new cases in Sierra County
• 21 new cases in Socorro County
• 5 new cases in Taos County
• 1 new case in Torrance County
• 2 new cases in Valencia County
• 1 new case among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County

New fatalities

• A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
• A male in his 50s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized
• A male in his 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 70s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 80s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 90s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 70s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 40s from San Juan 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:

• Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
• Belen Meadows Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Belen
• Desert Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hobbs
• Genesis Healthcare Uptown in Albuquerque
• Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad
• New Mexico State Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences
• Princeton Place in Albuquerque
• Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
• White Sands Healthcare in Hobbs

Statewide cases

According to a health department news release, previously reported numbers included eight cases that have been identified as duplicates (two in Bernalillo County, three in Chaves County, two in McKinley County and one in Sandoval County)—these 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: 55,737
• Catron County: 87
• Chaves County: 8,782
• Cibola County: 2,850
• Colfax County: 732
• Curry County: 5,056
• De Baca County: 136
• Doña Ana County: 24,225
• Eddy County: 6,715
• Grant County: 1,667
• Guadalupe County: 376
• Harding County: 9
• Hidalgo County: 357
• Lea County: 8,257
• Lincoln County: 1,606
• Los Alamos County: 508
• Luna County: 3,263
• McKinley County: 12,173
• Mora County: 169
• Otero County: 3,703
• Quay County: 428
• Rio Arriba County: 3,534
• Roosevelt County: 1,877
• Sandoval County: 11,631
• San Juan County: 14,001
• San Miguel County: 1,329
• Santa Fe County: 9,959
• Sierra County: 722
• Socorro County: 1,278
• Taos County: 1,637
• Torrance County: 688
• Union County: 246
• Valencia County: 6,530

Cases among people being held by federal agencies

• Cibola County Correctional Center: 446
• Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 444
• Otero County Processing Center: 198
• 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: 292
• Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 251
• Lea County Correctional Facility: 762
• Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 167
• Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 127
• Otero County Prison Facility: 472
• Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 218
• Roswell Correctional Center: 230
• Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 230
• Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 151
• Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 75

*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.