New cases continue downward trend

Rolling seven-day average of new infections lowest since Nov. 2; daily death toll remains nearly unchanged

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in New Mexico continued on a downward trend Saturday as the daily average death toll remained about the same.

The state Department of Health on Saturday announced 859 additional cases and 38 deaths from the virus.

The update pushed the rolling seven-day average of cases to 813 a day — the lowest since Nov. 2. The average number of deaths was 29 a day, close to where it was this time last month, at 27 deaths a day.

Twelve of the 38 deaths reported Saturday were in Bernalillo County, and all but 15 of those who died had no underlying conditions.

The deceased mostly ranged in age from their 40s and 90s, but included four people in their 30s and 20s. A Santa Fe County woman in her 20s with no underlying conditions mentioned was among those who died, the state Department of Health said.

The majority of new cases were in Bernalillo County, with 184, San Juan County, with 83, Santa Fe County, with 80, and Doña Ana County, with 74.

New Mexico has tallied 168,579 cases of COVID-19 and 3,115 deaths from the virus.

There were 627 people hospitalized with the virus across the state Saturday, and 93,141 cases have been designated as having recovered by the Health Department. The New Mexico Department of Health dashboard updates vaccine data Monday-Friday; it does not provide updates on weekends. Check Tuesday’s Journal for the newest numbers.