San Juan County's COVID-19 cases up 13%; New Mexico cases surge 36.4%

Mike Stucka, Farmington Daily Times
·3 min read

FARMINGTON — New coronavirus cases leaped in New Mexico in the week ending Sunday, rising 36.4% as 2,197 cases were reported. The previous week had 1,611 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

New Mexico ranked 29th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

San Juan County reported 61 cases and three deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 54 cases and four deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 40,943 cases and 755 deaths.

Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in De Baca County with 458 cases per 100,000 per week; Rio Arriba County with 324; and Santa Fe County with 186. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

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Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 827 cases; Santa Fe County, with 280 cases; and Doña Ana County, with 217. Weekly case counts rose in 17 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Bernalillo, Santa Fe and Rio Arriba counties.

In New Mexico, 51 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 57 people were reported dead.

A total of 526,137 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 7,607 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 82,468,606 people have tested positive and 999,602 people have died.

In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 21.4% from the week before, with 605,127 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.36% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 47 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

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New Mexico ranked 9th among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 87.7% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 77.7%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.

In the week ending Wednesday, New Mexico reported administering another 22,940 vaccine doses, including 4,332 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 25,827 vaccine doses, including 4,189 first doses. In all, New Mexico reported it has administered 3,946,642 total doses.

Across New Mexico, cases fell in seven counties, with the best declines in Los Alamos County, with 28 cases from 38 a week earlier; in Curry County, with 34 cases from 40; and in Lincoln County, with 13 cases from 18.

MORE >> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, May 15.

Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 299

  • The week before that: 301

  • Four weeks ago: 287

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 49,753

  • The week before that: 44,912

  • Four weeks ago: 37,527

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Hospitals in 45 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 29 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 41 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan County reported 61 new COVID-19 cases last week