New Mexico nears 7,000 virus cases, Doña Ana County tops 400 as mass gatherings may be out for a year
SANTA FE, New Mexico -- Coronavirus cases in New Mexico inched towards the 7,000 mark as the latest numbers came in on Sunday afternoon, while Doña Ana County now exceeded 400.
There were 17 additional cases reported in Doña Ana County on Sunday, bringing the caseload to 407. Still no new deaths, leaving the fatality count steady at just two.
Neighboring Otero County continued to have hotspots flaring at two detention facilities located next to each other. Officials on Sunday reported a total of 91 infections at the Otero County Prison and 92 at the Otero County ICE Processing Center.
There were also two new cases reported among Otero County residents for a cumulative tally of 14. The federally-run detention facilities are tracked separately from the county's residents.
Statewide on Sunday there were 149 new infections, raising New Mexico's total to 6,943. The state also recorded nine additional deaths, all in the northwest counties of McKinley and San Juan, for a total to date of 317.
Sunday's numbers came as a New Mexico state official says gatherings of more than 100 people may not be possible for more than a year because of the virus pandemic, meaning that sports stadiums, concert halls and conference centers in the state could remain empty for months.
“I know a lot of events have been canceled this year,” Tourism Secretary Jen Paul Schroer said. “We may not have the ability to do a mass gathering until we have a vaccine or herd immunity. It could be a year or 18 months.”
Schroer's comments on the reopening the state’s hospitality industry were reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican newspaper.
The office of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham concurred.
“It could be a long time before it is safe to have gatherings of more than 100,” Lujan Grisham spokeswoman Nora Meyers Sackett 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.
