New Mexico ranks high for virus diagnosis, death rates; new deaths occur in Doña Ana, Otero counties
SANTA FE, New Mexico — A rolling average of daily statewide deaths from the coronavirus has surpassed 25 as New Mexico nears the end of a two-week period of heightened restrictions.
There were 13 virus-related deaths reported across the state on Sunday, most notably 60-year-old middle school teacher Sylvia Garcia of Las Cruces. Las Cruces Public Schools Superintendent Karen Trujillo described Garcia as a “beloved, veteran educator with deep roots in this district" and added, "we are devastated."
Two other virus deaths reported in southern New Mexico on Sunday included a woman in her 70s who was a resident of the Calibre Sagecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Las Cruces, along with a woman in her 60s from Otero County who had been hospitalized.
Since the pandemic's start, 1,540 deaths are linked to the virus statewide - with 184 of those occurring in Doña Ana County and 25 in neighboring Otero County.
The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in New Mexico has risen over the past two weeks from 14.9 deaths per day to 25.3 deaths per day, according to an analysis by The Associated Press of data collected by Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
New Mexico also ranks among the worst 10 states in diagnosis rates for Covid-19, with one out of every 144 people diagnosed with the virus from Nov. 21 through this weekend. North Dakota had the highest rate, with 1 out of 119 residents diagnosed with the virus.
The state plans to switch to a county-by-county risk evaluation system on Wednesday. The administration of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said that will allow local communities to shed burdensome restrictions when public health data shows the virus is retreating locally.
State health officials on Sunday announced 1,443 newly confirmed virus infections as the statewide total increased to 93,982 cases. There were 167 new cases in Doña Ana County for a pandemic total of 13,356.
The rolling average of daily new coronavirus cases in New Mexico has risen over the past two weeks from 1,357 new cases per day to 2,077 new cases per day.
Comparing seven-day averages of new cases smooths out anomalies in the data, including delays in test results.
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.
