Special Report

COVID-19: This is the Least Dangerous County in the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area

Samuel Stebbins

Published: January 22, 2021 7:15 am

Despite the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the novel coronavirus continues to spread through the United States. To date, 24,034,512 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 394,081 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Albuquerque metropolitan area, located in New Mexico, a total of 62,770 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 6,898 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 7,346 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Albuquerque is being driven disproportionately by one area in particular.

The broader Albuquerque metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Torrance County has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 561 infections in Torrance County, or 3,597 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Torrance County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Albuquerque metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 51 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Torrance County, below 104 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Albuquerque metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Jan. 20, 2021.

These are all the counties in New Mexico where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).