Doña Ana County has 2 of New Mexico’s 9 latest virus deaths as hospitalizations also skyrocket

SANTA FE, New Mexico — The New Mexico Department of Health reported nine additional Covid-19-related deaths on Monday, including two in Doña Ana County, as hospitalizations also skyrocketed.

The two Doña Ana County fatalities were a man in his 60s who had been hospitalized and a woman in her 70s with underlying conditions. To date, the county has seen a total of 69 deaths, while statewide that total is 976.

In addition to the deaths, the state reported 732 new virus cases, with 194 of those in Doña Ana County. KOB-TV in Albuquerque tallied a 12% positivity result of the tests analyzed in Monday's report from the state.

The state also reported 289 patients were hospitalized in New Mexico for Covid-19 treatment. As of Monday, 76% of the state's hospital beds are occupied, and 70% of ICU space was filled with both Covid and non-Covid patients.

Hospitalizations have marked a four-fold increase over the past month and if Covid-19 continues to spread in New Mexico like it has in recent weeks, officials with three of the largest health care systems in the state warned Monday that hospitals and health care workers will not be able to keep up.

Despite having some of the most restrictive public health requirements since the start of the pandemic, New Mexico had seen three record-setting days for daily Covid-19 case totals in just over a week.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in a social media post pointed to the 828 new cases reported Sunday, saying spread remains at “disastrously high levels.” The state reported its most confirmed cases in a single day — 875 — on Saturday,

Modeling by scientists with the Los Alamos National Laboratory shows that around 900 additional Covid-19 cases a day fills about 180 ICU beds as a result.

New Mexico officials have been warning people for weeks about consequences for the health care system if spread isn't reduced.

In neighboring El Paso, a spike in coronavirus cases has overwhelmed hospitals, but officials in New Mexico said there's no indication they'll see an influx of patients from Texas.

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.