25 more cases at Otero County Prison, while virus infection is reported at a Hatch nursing home
SANTA FE, New Mexico — New Mexico health officials on Wednesday reported an additional 122 coronavirus cases, with 25 of those among inmates at a federal lockup in southern New Mexico.
Those 25 new cases are among inmates in the custody of federal agencies that are being housed at the Otero County Prison. It comes after officials had announced 122 new cases a day earlier at the facility, as a well as the infection death of inmate in his 30s just two days ago.
The massive outbreak at the prison in Chaparral has now infected a total of 253 inmates. New Mexico's governor has criticized the federally-controlled facility for failing to take precautions to stop the virus' spread inside the lockup.
State officials have also previously reported that 92 detainees at the adjacent ICE Otero County Processing Center in Chaparral also tested positive for the virus. There were no new cases there on Wednesday.
In Dona Ana County, there were eight new cases reported, bringing the total to 488. At least one of those cases involved either staff or residents at The Jim Wood Home, an assisted-living facility in Hatch. It's the fifth nursing home in the county, but the first outside of Las Cruces, to have infections reported by the state.
New Mexico's now tallied 8,140 cases to date. Eight additional deaths were also reported statewide Wednesday, all occurring in McKinley and San Juan counties in the northwest corner, bringing the fatality total to 367.
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.
