Doña Ana County leads state in virus cases, sees 5th death in a week

SANTA FE, New Mexico -- Health officials said an additional 590 Covid-19 cases were reported Tuesday in New Mexico, with 163 of those new infections in Doña Ana County, and the day's positivity rate calculated at 13%.

Doña Ana County led New Mexico in new cases, accounting for nearly 28% of the daily count. Bernalillo County, the Albuquerque metro area, was second with 141. Between the two most populous counties, they accounted for over half of the state's latest infections.

New Mexico officials also reported another four deaths related to the virus - including a Doña Ana County man in his 60s who had been hospitalized.

It marked Doña Ana County's 70th fatality stemming from the pandemic, and its fifth in under a week, while the state's death toll grew to 980.

Confirmed cases in the state have topped 43,160 following a string of record-setting days for daily case totals. Doña Ana County's cumulative case count reached 5,980.

With 307 Covid-19 patients hospitalized, overall hospital bed space across the state was at 76% occupancy, while 69% of intensive care unit space was full between virus and non-virus patients.

Meantime, although it could be awhile before a vaccine is widely available, health officials in New Mexico said Tuesday they had submitted their plans to the federal government for how to distribute it.

Officials indicated the focus would be on vaccinating health care workers, first responders and then nursing home residents and staff. They acknowledged that supplies will likely be limited early on and immunizations for the general public would come later.

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. (The Associated Press contributed to this report.)