NM reports large spike in COVID-19 cases

Second-highest daily case count recorded since pandemic began

The state recorded 426 new cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths related to the virus, bringing the statewide total to 31,372 cases and 896 deaths.

It is the second-highest daily case count since the pandemic began and also puts the current seven-day average at 277 cases, the highest seen since July 27.

The Metropolitan Detention Center tallied another 13 cases among inmates, adding to an outbreak of 100 cases at the jail since Oct. 1.

Nora Meyers Sackett, a Governor’s Office spokeswoman, said in a update Wednesday afternoon that the two additional deaths were a man in his 70s from McKinley County and a man in his 60s from San Juan County. Both had underlying conditions.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in New Mexico decreased over the past two weeks, going from four deaths per day on Sept. 22 to three deaths per day on Tuesday,

according to data from Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.

At the same time, the average positivity rate has climbed over the past two weeks from 2.1% to 3.65%, and daily positive tests have nearly doubled from 120 on Sept. 22 to 235 on Tuesday.

Sackett said 109 people are hospitalized with the virus and 17,766 cases have been designated as recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health.

The new cases include 120 in Bernalillo County, 70 in Doña Ana County, 35 in Chaves County, 32 in Lea County, 31 in Santa Fe County, 27 in Eddy County, 20 in Curry County, 17 in Sandoval County, 12 in Roosevelt County, 11 in Lincoln County, 10 in San Juan County, eight in McKinley County, seven in Luna County, six in Socorro County, four in Otero County, three in Valencia County, two each in San Miguel, Grant and Rio Arriba counties, and one each in Cibola, Colfax, Hidalgo, Taos, Torrance and Union counties.

There was also one additional case among inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham is planning to hold a news conference on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the pandemic and efforts to stem COVID-19 across New Mexico.