By Matthew Reichbach

Driven by continued increases in cases in Bernalillo County and a detention center in Cibola County as part of the second-most COVID-19 cases announced in a single day in the state, the state of New Mexico passed 20,000 total confirmed cases on Wednesday.

The New Mexico Department of Health announced 352 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six additional deaths related to the disease. The department has found 20,136 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 632 deaths related to the disease.

The 352 reported cases of COVID-19 represent 4.54 percent of the 7,758 tests the state announced have been processed between the announcements on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Bernalillo County, home of Albuquerque and by far the state’s most-populous county, had 87 new cases of COVID-19, but the Cibola County Correction Center had 76 new cases, more than any other county outside of Bernalillo on Wednesday.

Three of the six deaths related to COVID-19 occurred with those from Bernalillo County.

From DOH:

• A female in her 60s from Bernalillo County who was a resident of Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites in Albuquerque.
• A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque.
• A male in his 90s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of Avamere Rehabilitation at Fiesta Park in Albuquerque.
• A female in her 60s from Chaves County.
• A male in his 50s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of Bonney Family Home in Gallup.
• A male in his 60s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.

DOH, as usual, did not indicate which underlying condition was present in any of the deceased, only if one was present. 

The department announced that 158 people in New Mexico were hospitalized for COVID-19, a decrease of two over Tuesday’s announcement. This number could include out-of-state residents who are hospitalized for the disease in New Mexico, but would not include New Mexico residents who are hospitalized out of state.

The number of those who are designated as recovered from COVID-19 reached 7,817, an increase of 160 over Tuesday’s announcement.

Testing details

According to the state’s coronavirus information page, the state has processed 544,611 tests as of Wednesday, an increase of 7,758 over Tuesday’s total.

The number of COVID-19 cases continued to grow in counties throughout the state. 

Chaves County in southeastern New Mexico reported another 14 cases of the disease. Including these numbers, nearly 30 percent of the county’s 300 total cases have taken place since July 20.
And Cibola County, a western county which already had the fourth-most number of cases per capita, reported 11 additional cases.

Sandoval County in central New Mexico crossed the 1,000 case threshold earlier this week and added another 17 cases on Wednesday.

The state provided the total number of cases by county on Wednesday, with the numbers of inmates separated by the detention center or prison, not by the county in which they are held.

• 87 new cases in Bernalillo County
• 14 new cases in Chaves County
• 11 new cases in Cibola County
• 16 new cases in Curry County
• 38 new cases in Doña Ana County
• 3 new cases in Eddy County
• 10 new cases in Lea County
• 9 new cases in Lincoln County
• 3 new cases in Luna County
• 8 new cases in McKinley County
• 2 new cases in Otero County
• 4 new cases in Rio Arriba County
• 9 new cases in Roosevelt County
• 17 new cases in Sandoval County
• 18 new cases in San Juan County
• 11 new cases in Santa Fe County
• 1 new case in Sierra County
• 2 new cases in Taos County
• 1 new case in Torrance County
• 9 new cases in Valencia County
• 76 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center
• 1 new case among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison Facility
• 2 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County

DOH also provided the total number of cases by county, including the newly announced cases from Wednesday.

Two previously reported cases in Bernalillo County were identified as duplicates; five previously reported cases were identified as out-of-state residents (three in Chaves County and two in Doña Ana County). These were removed from the totals. Three cases previously reported as held by federal agencies at the Cibola County Correctional Center have since been identified as residents of Cibola County, which has also been corrected.

• Bernalillo County: 4,627
• Catron County: 4
• Chaves County: 300
• Cibola County: 306
• Colfax County: 13
• Curry County: 426
• Doña Ana County: 2,118
• Eddy County: 236
• Grant County: 65
• Guadalupe County: 31
• Harding County: 1
• Hidalgo County: 85
• Lea County: 581
• Lincoln County: 88
• Los Alamos County: 17
• Luna County: 218
• McKinley County: 3,942
• Mora County: 6
• Otero County: 176
• Quay County: 31
• Rio Arriba County: 285
• Roosevelt County: 131
• Sandoval County: 1,049
• San Juan County: 2,964
• San Miguel County: 40
• Santa Fe County: 535
• Sierra County: 28
• Socorro County: 71
• Taos County: 89
• Torrance County: 59
• Union County: 24
• Valencia County: 342

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the following facilities:

• Cibola County Correctional Center: 266
• Otero County Prison Facility: 278
• Otero County Processing Center: 159
• Torrance County Detention Facility: 43

DOH reported the following numbers of COVID-19 cases among individuals held by the New Mexico Corrections Department at the following facilities:

• Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 25
• Lea County Correctional Facility: 2
• Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility: 1
• Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 1
• Otero County Prison Facility: 469
• Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 1
• Western New Mexico Correctional Facility: 3

DOH also reported that they have found at least one positive case in at least 43 acute care or long-term care facilities in the last 28 days, the same number as in Tuesday’s announcement.