San Juan County's COVID cases fall 34.4%; New Mexico cases plummet 40.5%
FARMINGTON − New Mexico reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 1,750 new cases. That's down 40.5% from the previous week's tally of 2,942 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
San Juan County reported 122 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 186 cases and four deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 47,054 cases and 823 deaths.
Across New Mexico, cases fell in 27 counties, with the best declines in Chaves County, with 50 cases from 369 a week earlier; in Bernalillo County, with 533 cases from 758; and in Doña Ana County, with 141 cases from 229.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Hidalgo County with 262 cases per 100,000 per week; Quay County with 230; and Harding County with 160. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 533 cases; Santa Fe County, with 145 cases; and Sandoval County, with 142. Weekly case counts rose in four counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Quay, Mora and Taos counties.
In New Mexico, 14 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 70 people were reported dead.
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A total of 613,896 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,483 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 95,250,705 people have tested positive and 1,050,323 people have died.
New Mexico ranked 43rd among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 4.7% from the week before, with 507,209 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.35% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, three states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 11. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 206
- The week before that: 210
- Four weeks ago: 415
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 60,585
- The week before that: 61,376
- Four weeks ago: 69,436
Hospitals in 16 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 19 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.