San Juan County sets new COVID-19 case count in November, beating last December

Joshua Kellogg, Farmington Daily Times
·2 min read

FARMINGTON — The month of November had the highest COVID-19 case count of any month for San Juan County since the global pandemic started, including December of 2020.

The data does show small decreases in key data factors, including test positivity rates and cases per 100,000 people in the latter part of the month.

San Juan County had 4,365 cases for the month of November, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

December 2020 previously held the record for the highest COVID-19 case count with 4,000 cases.

More: November COVID-19 case count outpacing October's; 1 in 4 tests in county are positive

November also beat October’s case count of 3,657 cases, according to The Daily Times archives.

Health care workers from Northern Navajo Medical Center, San Juan County Public Health Office and the National Guard collected samples from the public at a free testing site for COVID-19 on May 5, 2020, at Shiprock High School in Shiprock.
Health care workers from Northern Navajo Medical Center, San Juan County Public Health Office and the National Guard collected samples from the public at a free testing site for COVID-19 on May 5, 2020, at Shiprock High School in Shiprock.

It took San Juan County three weeks in November to beat October’s case count, clocking in 3,724 cases between Nov. 1 and Nov. 22.

The Nov. 22 count includes case numbers for Nov. 20 and 21, so the county could have passed October’s count, but the state health department does not share case counts for Saturdays and Sundays anymore.

County shows decrease in new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people

The state health department’s community transmission by county report showed San Juan County had 89 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for Nov. 16 through Nov. 29.

That is a decrease from 153.8 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for Nov. 2 through Nov. 15.

The most recent report showed San Juan County had the fifth-highest rate statewide for new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.

The county showed improvement from Oct. 19 through Nov. 15, where San Juan had the second-highest rate statewide.

Decreases in county test positivity rate in late November

The San Juan County is also showing a small decrease in its test positivity rate.

For Nov. 16 through 29, San Juan County was listed as having an 18.19 percent test positivity rate. That is a decrease from 22.86 percent for Nov. 2 through Nov. 15.

The 18.19 percent test positivity rate from the most recent report is the third highest in the state, with De Baca County in second and Quay County with the highest rate in the state.

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

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This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: COVID case count was highest in November 2021 in San Juan County, NM