COVID cases increase four percent in Taos County
Cases continue to decline nationally
The COVID-19 case rate has increased by four percent throughout Taos County (cases per 100,000 people per week) this past week. Meanwhile, cases decreased 36 percent nationally and were down four percent throughout New Mexico.
Taos County reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 from March 1–7, compared to 23 new cases just the previous week, according to Town of Taos GIS Analyst Tim Corner. The total number of cases in the county is now at 5,262.
“Having seen a rapid decline in cases in recent weeks, case numbers plateaued in Taos County and New Mexico. In part, this was due to a reporting delay over the weekend of February 25th/26th,” explained Corner. “This resulted in more cases being reported last week and fewer the week before than should have been — resulting in the illusion of no great improvement in cases last week. Meantime cases continued to plummet nationally.”
One additional death was reported among Taos County residents in the past week, bringing the total number of deaths to 89, making for 16 COVID-related deaths in 2022. The last person to die of COVID in the county was a woman in her 70s who was hospitalized.
Across New Mexico, 17 of the 33 counties continued to see a decrease in the number of COVID19 cases. Cases counts continue to be highest in the Northwest region of the state and lowest in the Southeast region.
The average daily case count for the state decreased to 366 cases per day last week, down from 367 the week before. Meanwhile, the average deaths per day in the state decreased to 10 per day, down from 18 per day last week. Testing across the county has increased to an average of 121 tests per day, up
from 90 per day last week.
The CDC has developed new community guidelines to gauge the risk of spread for counties. Currently, Taos County lies in the “low” transmission category, based on hospitalization numbers.
The New Mexico Department of Health reports that the state has seen more than 514,000 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began in March 2020, with a death toll of 7,010. The CDC reports that more than 957,000 people have died in the U.S. due to COVID-19.
Taos County residents (aged 18+) are 89 percent fully vaccinated and 99 percent partially vaccinated, and 58 percent boosted, according to Corner. For the state as a whole, 78 percent are fully vaccinated and 92 percent are partially vaccinated, and 45 percent have received a booster shot. For younger New Mexicans (aged 12–17), 61 percent are fully vaccinated and 71 percent are partially vaccinated, while 30 percent of children aged 5-11 have been fully vaccinated, and 39 percent have been partially vaccinated.
To get vaccinated, or sign up to get a booster shot, go to vaccinenm.org.