Las Cruces nursing home among 25 in New Mexico with virus infections; state case total tops 3,500
LAS CRUCES, Mexico – The New Mexico Department of Health reported Friday that a Las Cruces nursing home caring for elderly residents with dementia and Alzheimer's was among 25 assisted-living facilities statewide with confirmed cases of coronavirus.
Officials identified Haciendas of Grace Village as one of the roughly two-dozen care facilities that had infections involving residents and/or employees. They did not elaborate.
The CEO of the Las Cruces facility, Gary Coppedge, later told ABC-7 that one caregiver had tested positive for the virus but showed no symptoms and was currently quarantined at home. The other staff and the residents were also tested, but he said the "very good news" as of Friday evening was that all those results came back negative.
The infection of the Haciendas employee was among three new Doña Ana County cases reported Friday, raising the county's case total to 147. There remained only one death to date in the Doña Ana County.
Across the state of New Mexico, there were 104 additional virus cases announced, raising the state's cumulative total to 3,513.
Health officials also tallied eight new deaths in the state, bringing the fatality count statewide to 131. The latest deaths all occurred in the Albuquerque metro area or in the northwest corner of the state, which have been the two hardest hit areas.
The northwest New Mexico city of Gallup in McKinley County, which accounts for roughly 30% of all the state's cases, was placed under lockdown Friday by the governor in the hopes of halting the spread there.
Below you can see county-by-county data for virus cases across New Mexico. The data comes from Johns Hopkins, so the numbers may vary from what's reported by the state health department.
