NM reports 914 new virus cases; hospitalizations hold steady

SANTA FE — It’s been nearly 18 months since New Mexico reported its first confirmed COVID-19 cases and an end to the pandemic is proving elusive.

State health officials announced 914 new confirmed virus cases Friday, with the southeast New Mexico counties of Eddy, Lea and Chaves making up more than one-quarter of that amount.

In addition, 396 individuals were hospitalized around the state due to COVID-19 — up from 180 a month earlier.

However, hospitalizations have largely stayed steady over the past week as hospitals scramble to deal with a nursing shortage exacerbated by the pandemic and a lack of available beds.

The recent surge in new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is due largely to the highly contagious delta variant of the virus.

While some individuals who have had the COVID-19 vaccine have tested positive during the spike, the majority of new cases have occurred in unvaccinated individuals.

“People who are unvaccinated are the people who are getting sick,” said Deputy Health Secretary Laura Parajon during an online briefing with reporters this week.

Specifically, nearly 90% of those hospitalized in a recent four-week period were unvaccinated, while unvaccinated individuals represented 82.3% of the new cases during that time period.

As of Friday, 78% of New Mexico residents age 18 and older had received at least one vaccine dose. And a total of 68.1% of adults were fully vaccinated — one of the nation’s highest rates.

Meanwhile, state health officials also reported eight additional virus-related deaths Friday, bringing the state’s death toll to 4,552 since the pandemic began.

That equates to roughly one of every 460 state residents.

Most of those who have died due to the pandemic have been elderly state residents with underlying health conditions, though a woman in her 40s from Bernalillo County was among the victims announced Friday.