State’s daily coronavirus count surges past 1,200

New Mexico’s daily count of coronavirus cases eclipsed 1,200 on Thursday, including more than 600 infections in rural Lea County in the state’s far southeast corner.

The fresh wave of infections came just one day after Dr. David Scrase, New Mexico’s top public health official, predicted the state would see 1,000 new cases a day by the end of the month due to the rapidly spreading delta variant.

More than half of the 612 cases reported Thursday in Lea County were from specimens collected over the previous six months. Lea County officials announced earlier this week they would release previously unreported case data. The delay in reporting was due to a delay at one facility, health officials said.

Still, 281 of Lea County’s new infections were from specimens taken over the past two weeks. Southeastern New Mexico appears to be a hot spot, with Chaves and Eddy counties — both of which border Lea County — reporting 94 and 81 additional infections, respectively.

“The pandemic currently is a pandemic among the unvaccinated,” David Morgan, a spokesman for the state Department of Health, said in an email. “Vaccination rates are rising in parts of southeastern New Mexico, but more need to be vaccinated to make a significant difference in case numbers in that part of the state.”

As of Thursday, less than half of eligible residents in Chaves, Lea and Eddy counties were fully vaccinated, according to the state’s vaccination dashboard.

Of the 1,281 new cases reported statewide, 136 were in Bernalillo County, 85 were in Doña Ana County, 33 were in Santa Fe County and 32 were in Sandoval County. Eddy County reported two additional deaths related to COVID-19, while Doña Ana and McKinley counties each added one fatality. All of the victims were men in their 60s, 70s or 80s.

Overall, the state has reported 217,773 infections and 4,441 deaths. The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Mexico rose to 293, up from 258 on Wednesday.

Officials urged health care providers who treat patients with weakened immune systems to register with the Health Department as an approved COVID-19 vaccine provider.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday night authorized booster doses for immunosuppressed patients.

“We’re asking healthcare practitioners statewide to register with the Department of Health as soon as possible,” Scrase said in a statement. “The more providers registered to distribute booster vaccinations, the faster we can get those shots into the arms of New Mexicans who need them the most.”

Physicians interested in registering are asked to visit takecarenm.org.