Meat plant outbreak drives up Doña Ana County virus cases by 17, just shy of 200 total

SANTA FE, New Mexico -- New Mexico state health officials on Thursday announced 204 new cases of coronavirus statewide, including 17 additional cases in Doña Ana County.

At least five, and possibly more, of the Doña Ana cases are tied to an outbreak at the Stampede meatpacking plant along the Santa Teresa/Sunland Park border, where the entire workforce was tested in recent days.

Doña Ana County's case total was just shy of the 200 milestone, rising to 197. They remained fifth among counties in New Mexico in terms of number of cases, which hit 4,493 statewide.

New Mexico also recorded three new deaths Wednesday, two in McKinley County - which leads the state in deaths and infections, and one in Bernillio County - which is the Albuquerque metro area and is the number two county in both categories. That brought the state death count to 172; only two of those to date have occurred in Doña Ana.

As of Thursday, there were 197 New Mexicans hospitalized, while 1,125 people were listed by health officials as having recovered from virus illness.

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.