NM announces 11 more virus deaths, 143 new cases

SANTA FE — Eleven more adults died in New Mexico’s coronavirus outbreak — eight from the northwestern part of the state — pushing the statewide death total to 219, health officials said Tuesday.

They also announced that testing had confirmed 143 additional virus cases, about 59% of which were in McKinley and San Juan counties, where the Navajo Nation has been hit particularly hard.

The new cases come as New Mexico moves slowly to ease business restrictions in most of the state.

Three counties in the northwest — San Juan, McKinley and Cibola — have been exempt from the slight relaxation of public health orders this month.

Five of the 11 deaths announced Tuesday were adults from McKinley County and three were from San Juan.

The state also said two Bernalillo County residents had died and one from Santa Fe County.

Eight of the 11 had underlying medical conditions of some kind, a risk factor for COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Five of those who died were residents of group living facilities, such as a nursing home.

The numbers also had a touch of good news — just 199 patients are hospitalized, down from 207 on Monday.

Altogether, the state has confirmed 5,212 cases of the virus.

The state Department of Health has designated 1,434 people as having recovered from the virus.

State officials are urging people to stay home to help slow the spread of the disease. They are also suggesting that workers — especially those at grocery stores or interacting with others — get tested for the virus, if they want to.