Doña Ana County has 53 of New Mexico’s 316 new virus cases as governor urges face mask use

SANTA FE, New Mexico -- State health officials on Wednesday reported 316 new coronavirus cases, bringing the statewide total to 17,828 since the pandemic began.

Three more deaths were also reported across the state, bringing that tally to 591.

In southern New Mexico, there were 53 new cases in Doña Ana County for a cumulative count of 1,838. In neighboring Otero County, there were seven new cases for a total of 120 to date.

There were also four new cases among inmates at the Otero County Prison Facility, which are tallied separately from county residents. Cases at the prison now total 614, which is well over 80% of the inmate population.

Face masks are currently mandated in New Mexico as the result of the continued uptick in cases, and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has now thanked President Donald Trump for joining the face mask movement.

She tweeted: “Thanks for joining us, Mr. President.”

Trump on Tuesday had said he was getting used to wearing a mask as he pulled one out of his suit pocket at the White House briefing room podium and told Americans that they too should wear masks.

"Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact, they’ll have an effect and we need everything we can get,” he said.

Below you can see county-by-county data for virus cases and deaths across New Mexico. The data comes from Johns Hopkins University, so the numbers may sometimes vary a bit from what's reported by the state health department. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)