Doña Ana County has 6 of state’s 10 new virus deaths, for 61 in 16 days
SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico on Saturday reported 10 more Covid-19 deaths, with six of those occurring in Doña Ana County, as preparations began for a two-week near-lockdown ordered by the governor to help curb the virus' spread.
The six latest victims from Doña Ana County included someone only in his 30s with no underlying conditions, along with four older adults who lived at a local nursing home. The full list of fatalities is as follows:
- A man in his 30s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized.
- A man in his 50s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized.
- A woman in her 70s who was a resident of the Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces.
- 2 woman in their 80s who were also residents of the Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces.
- A man in his 90s who resided at the Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces too.
The statewide death toll rose to 1,208, while Doña Ana County's toll increased to 134 - with 61 of those occurring over the past 16 days.
With 1,180 additional virus cases reported in New Mexico on Saturday, it increased the statewide total to 63,171 cases. Of those new infections, 162 occured in Doña Ana County to raise its pandemic tally to 9,647.
The actual number of New Mexico infections is thought to be far higher because many people have not been tested, and studies indicate people can be infected with the virus without feeling sick.
Johns Hopkins University and The Covid Tracking Project data analyzed by The Associated Press shows the seven-day rolling averages for new daily cases, daily deaths and testing positivity all increasing over the past two weeks, with the daily deaths average more than doubling from 5.9 deaths to 13.4 fatalities.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has ordered many businesses to close and asked residents to stay home starting Monday following a steady increase in infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
Under the governor's order, grocery stores, pharmacies, day cares, gas stations and other essential businesses can still operate. But they are being told to minimize operations and in-person staffing to the greatest extent possible. Restaurants may provide curbside pickup and delivery services, but on-site dining is prohibited.
“We are in a life-or-death situation, and if we don’t act right now, we cannot preserve the lives, we can’t keep saving lives, and we will absolutely crush our current health care system and infrastructure,” the governor 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.
