Virus cases decline, but deaths remain high with 4 of state’s 12 latest in southern New Mexico
SANTA FE, New Mexico -- New Mexico officials on Monday reported 494 new coronavirus cases and 12 additional deaths, bringing the statewide total number of cases to 169,696 and deaths to 3,157.
Four of the dozen latest deaths occurred in the southern counties of Doña Ana, Luna and Otero. They included:
- A woman in her 50s from Luna County who was hospitalized.
- A man in his 60s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions.
- A man in his 70s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized.
- A woman in her 70s from Otero County who was hospitalized.
Bernalillo County, which is the Albuquerque metro area, reported the highest numbers of new daily cases with 143 on Monday. It was followed by Doña Ana with 68.
New Mexico has seen its daily numbers of confirmed infections fall recently along with Covid-19 hospitalizations. In fact, the daily infection total has been below 1,000 for the last several days.
Dr. David Scrase, head of New Mexico’s Human Services Department, also noted that the rate of spread is below the state's target and the rate of positive tests is just over 7% after having been in double digits for months.
“Those of us who spend time every morning at 7 going over this data, we follow it really closely. Our feeling is that this downward trend is real,” Scrase said.
However, deaths are still high, with more than 200 reported in the last week. Officials said there is about a four-week lag before changes in the case total are reflected, so the death rate is expected to ease up in February.
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.
