New Mexico surpasses 100K virus infections with record 40 more deaths – 10 in southern counties

SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico marked more grim milestones Wednesday with confirmed Covid-19 infections surpassing the 100,000 mark and the daily death toll reaching a new high of 40 as some public health restrictions were eased following a two-week lockdown.

Health officials reported an additional 1,549 confirmed cases for the day, bringing the statewide total to nearly 100,970. Of those new cases, 113 occurred in Doña Ana County to bring its infection total to 13,797.

Data showed about half of the state’s total cases since the pandemic began have been reported in just the past month.

The 40 additional deaths reported Wednesday included people who ranged in age from their 40s into their 80s. Nearly all of them had been hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

Southern New Mexico was responsible for a quarter of the state's Wednesday death count. Those ten fatalities included:

• Doña Ana County, 6 victims: Three women, one each in their 50s, 60s and 70s; a man in his 70s, and two other men in their 80s. Total of 197 deaths to date.
• Luna County, 3 victims: A man in his 50s and two men in heir 70s. Total of 30 deaths to date.
• Otero County. 1 victim: A man in his 70s for 28 total deaths to date.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham acknowledged the latest figures in a statement issued late Wednesday afternoon. She said she was praying for the families that have been affected and for health care providers and first responders who have been on the front lines. She also talked about the economic fallout that has resulted, saying the state must be “clear-eyed about the risks we face.”

“There can be no doubt: We are headed for a painful winter,” she said. “More New Mexicans will contract this virus and fall seriously ill. Some will lose their lives. Today alone we lost 40 New Mexicans to this virus. We cannot become numb to this tragedy,” the governor said.

Like other states, New Mexico has been dealing with a surge in infections, deaths and hospitalizations. Health care providers say they are at capacity, and laboratories have been struggling to keep up with growing demand for testing.

Health officials expect an uptick in cases in the coming weeks as a result of family gatherings over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Lujan Grisham reiterated her pleas for New Mexicans to abide by the health restrictions, which include staying home as much as possible, wearing a mask and keeping distance from other people.

As part of the latest order that took effect Wednesday, the state universally lifted some provisions of its two-week lockdown by restoring limited outdoor restaurant dining and allowing “close contact” businesses such as exercise gyms to reopen at 25% of capacity with up to 10 customers.

As counties move out of the red with lesser rates of spread and case counts, more restrictions can be shed. However, all but one of the state's 33 counties are deep in the red zone and it will take some time before conditions improve.

Click here to see the breakdown of the red-yellow-green restriction system and click here to see the official map displaying each county’s current zone level.

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.