NM Reports 2,514 New COVID-19 Cases and 36 More Deaths |

COVID-19 is on the rise in New Mexico, health officials said today, who believe the highly transmissible Omicron variant probably accounts for 50 to 60% of cases and will likely comprise 100% of its cases in the next few weeks.

Today, health officials reported 2,514 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 361,629; DOH has designated 313,274 of those cases as recovered. Today’s case count is nearly 52% higher than yesterday. Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said he anticipates “we will be seeing a rise in cases over the next two to four weeks” in the state with a rolling seven-day average likely to surpass New Mexico’s previous high point in November of 2020. “Omicron is here,” Scrase said. “It’s serious.”

Bernalillo County had 923 new cases today, followed by Sandoval County with 182 and McKinley County with 174. Santa Fe County had 137 cases.

According to the state’s most recent vaccination case report from Jan. 3, over the last four weeks, 66.4% of COVID-19 cases have been among those who are not vaccinated, as have 83.6% of hospitalizations and 88.1% of deaths. Scrase said he expects the state to soon start reporting breakthrough cases for those who have had booster shots.

The surge comes amidst a shortage of testing and a scarcity of treatments, although officials say they hope to see more of both in the near future.

But signs do exist that Omicron may lead to less severe cases, which means fewer hospitalizations and fewer deaths, Scrase said. “That is something we’re hanging onto for dear life,” he said, “because that’s the only thing that can save our hospital situation.”

As of today, 497 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.* While the number of COVID patients has improved, hospitals remain full of non-COVID patients. “They are still struggling,” Scrase said. “They are struggling getting staff, they are struggling covering shifts, they are struggling getting the work done.” As of yesterday, there were nine ICU beds for COVID patients available in the state and 40 available beds overall.

COVID-19 fatalities also remain high, with state announcing 36 additional deaths today, 24 of them recent; there have now been 5,933 total fatalities statewide.

Currently, 89% of New Mexicans 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 75.9% ahave completed their primary series. Among that demographic, 35.7% are up to date and have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 66.9% of people have had at least one dose and 57.3% are fully inoculated. Among children ages 5-11, 28.5% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 17.3% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 85.7% are fully vaccinated.

Deputy Health Secretary Dr. Laura Parajón also reviewed the new guidelines for boosters. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently modified its advice regarding booster shots, shortening the period people should wait between their second Pfizer-BiNTech shot from six to five months (Moderna remains at six months and Johnson & Johnson remains at two months). The CDC also recommended moderately or severely immunocompromised 5-11-year-olds receive an additional primary dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine (the only one permitted for that age group) 28 days after their second shot and approved people ages 12-15 can receive Pfizer booster dose at five months.

Health officials also said they have adopted the CDC’s new guidance regarding quarantine for people who have been exposed to COVID-19 and isolation for those who have tested positive. That guidance decreases the time period from 10 to five days in both cases, but requires masking for five days thereafter.

Parajón acknowledged the current scarcity of testing both in New Mexico and nationally, but said DOH is working to roll out a free testing program for Zip codes with high vulnerability, starting with 35,000 tests. The state’s NM Notify contact tracing app also will soon be adding the capacity for people to add their positive home test results manually.

Finally, Scrase also reviewed the current state of treatments for COVID-19, which remain limited in the state and with increasing evidence that Sotrovimab is the only monoclonal antibody that is proving effective against the Omicron variant. As the chart indicates below, the state is prioritizing use of limited oral Paxlovid medications to those counties without access to monoclonal antibodies. The state has ample supply of the oral treatment Molnupiravir, but that is significantly less effective. Remdesivir, which is highly effective at reducing hospitalizations, also is more time intensive, but Scrase said the state will be supplementing its lack of other treatments with it for the time being.

Scrase acknowledged the shortage of treatment remains a key issue, “because if we don’t treat people with those agents, we’l have more hospitalizations.” He said he expects the state to remain in a “tight spot” for at least a few weeks, if not longer, until production of Paxlovid and Sotrovimab increases.

“Hang in there,” Scrase said. “If death rates, if hospitalization rates drop, that means we’re on our way to learning to live with COVID. I still think we got this. The New Mexican people, they know what to do and I’m hoping we will get through what will hopefully be a relatively brief wave and go on to an even milder variant…Only time will tell. We can’t know for sure.”

New cases

• 923 new cases in Bernalillo County
• 1 new case in Catron County
• 36 new cases in Chaves County
• 40 new cases in Cibola County
• 8 new cases in Colfax County
• 55 new cases in Curry County
• 2 new cases in De Baca County
• 146 new cases in Doña Ana County
• 79 new cases in Eddy County
• 64 new cases in Grant County
• 7 new cases in Guadalupe County
• 1 new case in Harding County
• 7 new cases in Hidalgo County
• 150 new cases in Lea County
• 21 new cases in Lincoln County
• 3 new cases in Los Alamos County
• 12 new cases in Luna County
• 174 new cases in McKinley County
• 1 new case in Mora County
• 48 new cases in Otero County
• 6 new cases in Quay County
• 15 new cases in Rio Arriba County
• 46 new cases in Roosevelt County
• 182 new cases in Sandoval County
• 160 new cases in San Juan County
• 39 new cases in San Miguel County
• 137 new cases in Santa Fe County
• 12 new cases in Sierra County
• 37 new cases in Socorro County
• 15 new cases in Taos County
• 14 new cases in Torrance County
• 14 new cases in Union County
• 59 new cases in Valencia County

New fatalities

• A male in his 40s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
• A male in his 50s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized.
• A second male in his 50s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A second female in her 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A third female in her 80s from Bernalillo County
• A female in her 90s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from Chaves County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 70s from Chaves County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 80s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 90s from Doña Ana County who had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from Eddy County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 50s from Otero County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 80s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 20s from Sandoval County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 40s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 60s from San Juan County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from San Miguel County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 80s from San Miguel County who had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from Sierra County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from Valencia County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 40s from Valencia County who was hospitalized
• A male in his 80s from Valencia County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions

Newly reported fatalities from more than 30 days ago

• A female in her 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A male in his 80s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 80s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 50s from Eddy County who was hospitalized
• A male in his 30s from Grant County who was hospitalized
• A female in her 90s from Lincoln County who had underlying conditions
• A male in his 20s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 90s from Rio Arriba County
• A male in his 90s from Rio Arriba County who had underlying conditions
• A male in his 80s from Roosevelt County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
• A female in her 60s from San Juan County who had underlying conditions
• A male in his 70s from San Miguel County who had underlying conditions

According to DOH, COVID-related deaths are reported when a death certificate has been issued and some death certificates are delayed due to insufficient information.

Congregate facilities

The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following facilities:

• Advanced Health Care in Albuquerque
• Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
• Amaran Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• American Heritage Home in Albuquerque
• Aspen Ridge Lodge Retirement in Los Alamos
• Artesia Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Artesia
• Atria Vista Del Rio in Albuquerque
• Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
• BeeHive Homes Alamogordo
• BeeHive Homes in Clovis
• BeeHive Homes Edgewood facility
• BeeHive Homes in Roswell
• BeeHive Homes San Pedro in Albuquerque
• Blue Horizon Assisted Living In Las Cruces
• The Bridge of Farmington in Farmington
• Brookdale Valencia in Albuquerque
• Casa Arena Blanca Nursing Center in Alamogordo
• Casa de Carino in Albuquerque
• Casa del Sol Center in Las Cruces
• Casa de Oro in Las Cruces
• Casa de Palomas in Albuquerque
• Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell
• Clayton Nursing and Rehabilitation in Clayton
• Clovis Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
• Desert Peaks Assisting Living and Memory Care in Las Cruces
• Fort Bayard Medical Center in Santa Clara
• Genesis Healthcare Uptown in Albuquerque
• Genesis McKinley Care Center in Gallup
• Genesis San Juan Center in Farmington
• Good Life Senior Living and Memory Care in Artesia
• Good Life Senior Living in Carlsbad
• Good Life Senior Living and Memory Care in Los Lunas
• Good Samaritan Society Las Cruces
• Good Samaritan Society – Manzano del Sol Village in Albuquerque
• Haciendas of Grace Village in Las Cruces
• Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad
• Las Cruces Post Acute and Rehabilitation Center of Cascadia (Welbrook Senior Living) in Las Cruces
• Las Palomas Center in Albuquerque
• Life Care Farmington
• Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup
• The Meadows Home at the New Mexico Behavioral Health Institute in Las Vegas
• Mimbres Memorial Nursing Home in Deming
• Mission Arch Center in Roswell
• The Montebello on Academy in Albuquerque
• Odelia Healthcare (Camino Healthcare) in Albuquerque
• Princeton Place in Albuquerque
• Retirement Ranches in Clovis
• The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
• Genesis Rio Rancho Center
• Sandia View Cottonwood Assisted Living in Albuquerque
• Santa Clara Assisted Living in Santa Clara
• Sombrillo Nursing Home in Los Alamos
• Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites in Albuquerque
• Sugar Hollow Assisted Living Community in Albuquerque
• The Suites at Rio Vista in Rio Rancho
• Sunset Villa Care Center in Roswell
• Sunshine Assisted Living in Tucumcari
• The Village at Alameda in Albuquerque
• Village at Northrise – Morningside in Las Cruces
• The Woodmark at Uptown in Albuquerque
• White Sands Healthcare in Hobbs

Statewide cases

County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.

• Bernalillo County: 102,607
• Catron County: 301
• Chaves County: 15,776
• Cibola County: 4,548
• Colfax County: 1,778
• Curry County: 9,246
• De Baca County: 419
• Doña Ana County: 42,068
• Eddy County: 12,846
• Grant County: 4,581
• Guadalupe County: 718
• Harding County: 59
• Hidalgo County: 735
• Lea County: 15,324
• Lincoln County: 3,824
• Los Alamos County: 1,138
• Luna County: 4,989
• McKinley County: 17,952
• Mora County: 497
• Otero County: 9,392
• Quay County: 1,605
• Rio Arriba County: 6,539
• Roosevelt County: 3,630
• Sandoval County: 21,980
• San Juan County: 28,958
• San Miguel County: 3,586
• Santa Fe County: 17,846
• Sierra County: 1,530
• Socorro County: 2,643
• Taos County: 3,398
• Torrance County: 1,985
• Union County: 559
• Valencia County: 13,139

Cases among people being held by federal agencies

• Cibola County Correctional Center: 459
• Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 586
• Otero County Processing Center: 689
• Torrance County Detention Facility: 364

Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections

• Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 391
• Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 258
• Lea County Correctional Facility: 765
• Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 214
• Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 131
• Otero County Prison Facility: 543
• Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 233
• Roswell Correctional Center: 230
• Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 240
• Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 245
• Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 85

*Per the health department, hospitalization figures include people who were tested elsewhere but are hospitalized in New Mexico, but don’t include people who were tested here but are hospitalized out of state.