3rd virus death reported at infected Las Cruces nursing home as New Mexico tops 700 deaths

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- A Las Cruces nursing home resident was among a half-dozen new coronavirus deaths reported by state health officials on Friday as New Mexico topped 700 fatalities thus far during the pandemic.

The Las Cruces death marked at least three that have occurred in less than a month involving residents at the Good Samaritan Society facility there, according to state records reviewed by ABC-7.

The latest victim was a man in his 90s who had been recently hospitalized, state officials said. The other residents were women whose deaths were reported within just days of each other in late July.

A woman in her 70s from Good Samaritan Society was added to the state's fatality count on July 28, while the passing of another women in her 80s was reported on July 31.

According to ABC-7 archives, the Good Samaritan Society was placed by health officials on July 4 to a list of dozens of assisted living facilities across New Mexico where case outbreaks were reported among residents and/or staff.

Based on state records, an ABC-7 count last month showed Good Samaritan among at least nine nursing homes in Las Cruces - and 10 total in Doña Ana County - where virus infections had occurred during the pandemic.

With Friday's recorded deaths, the fatality toll from Covid-19 reached 32 in Doña Ana County and hit 703 across New Mexico.

There were also 30 new cases in Doña Ana County, which amounted to 18% of the 175 additional infections reported throughout New Mexico on Friday. The cumulative case counts now totaled 2,602 in Doña Ana County and 23,160 for the state.

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.