Clovis hospital confirms case of COVID-19

CLOVIS — Plains Regional Medical Center has tested a patient who's been confirmed positive for COVID-19. Presbyterian Healthcare Services spokeswoman Amanda Schoenberg said results were confirmed Monday. She said the patient lives in Curry County and is quarantined at home.

Curry County Manager Lance Pyle said he was contacted by the governor's office on Tuesday morning and told the patient is a woman in her 50s. The virus is likely travel related, Pyle said.

Cannon Air Force Base Wing Commander Col. Robert Masaitis announced Monday night it was the first positive test for the virus in the “immediate area” outside Cannon.

In a video released on the Cannon Facebook page, Masaitis said the patient is not-active duty military or a dependent.

Click Here to watch on Facebook Cannon Announcement

No additional information was immediately provided.

The colonel also said Monday that Cannon now has 125 active-duty members in self-isolation due to “areas of concern” where they’ve traveled. And he announced the base would be further restricting access following Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s order on Monday afternoon that instructed state residents to remain in their homes “except for outings absolutely necessary for health, safety and welfare.”

In addition, the colonel announced larger numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases in surrounding communities than had been previously reported by the Department of Health.

Masaitis said Lubbock now has 13 confirmed cases and Amarillo has five, as of Monday. Texas health officials reported earlier Monday it had confirmed two cases in Lubbock and two more in Amarillo.

Other than the case Masasitis announced Monday, the closest New Mexico community with a confirmed case, according to the Department of Health, was in Lea County this weekend. Communities around Hereford, Dimmitt and Levelland in the Texas Panhandle have also confirmed cases in recent days, including three confirmed cases in Hockley County, which includes Levelland.