Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

COVID roundup: Clovis reports highest number of cases in state

Curry County reports 114 new COVID cases between Friday, Monday.

CLOVIS — Monday saw Clovis grab a No. 1 ranking nobody wants.

According to the Department of Health’s Monday report of 2,201 new cases of COVID-19, the 88101 ZIP code had the highest in the state with 107. It was one of three ZIP codes with triple-digit cases over the weekend, along with Carlsbad (106) and Hobbs (101).

Curry County reported 114 total new cases between Friday and Monday, while Roosevelt County confirmed new 30 cases.

The state reported nine new virus-related deaths on Monday, eight in the last few days and one more than 30 days prior.

None of the deaths originated from Curry or Roosevelt, but one was from nearby De Baca County. That county’s third COVID-19 death was a female in her 20s who was hospitalized.

Plains Regional Medical Center on Tuesday morning reported it had 25 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including six in intensive care. One COVID patient is on a ventilator, hospital officials said.

PRMC had four COVID patients hospitalized at the end of July.

Curry County has confirmed 527 new cases in August, compared to 549 total between March 1 and July 31.

The spread of the virus is causing issues at local schools, which have sent hundreds home for quarantines.

According to the Clovis district’s COVID case page updated each afternoon, Monday saw 15 confirmed COVID-19 cases among eight different schools. A total of 194 people required a 10-day quarantine due to a close contact with a COVID-positive individual.

Gattis Middle School alone had 70 people require a quarantine, with two cases confirmed.

Close contacts who are fully vaccinated and symptom free are not required to quarantine.

Last week saw the district confirm 21 cases between 10 campuses. The cases led to 447 quarantined close contacts. From those, Clovis High had the most total cases and close contacts with six and 288.

Portales Schools Superintendent Johnnie Cain told The News on Monday the district has had 11 positive cases across six campuses, requiring 45 people to self-isolate.

“Almost all of these were due to exposures with a family member or someplace away from campus,” Cain said via text message.

Cain said 58 students self-isolated at the beginning of the year due to exposures that took place outside of schools.

Officials continued to urge residents be vaccinated, saying 87 percent of COVID patients in New Mexico hospitals are not vaccinated.

More COVID news:

• Texas numbers also are increasing.

Lubbock saw three more COVID-linked deaths on Monday and reported a third straight day of an increased hospitalization rate.

Since Friday, Lubbock County has reported six new deaths related to the virus, bringing its total to 759 since the pandemic began.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported 193 COVID patients were hospitalized in Lubbock County on Monday. The newspaper reported 16 of those hospitalized have been vaccinated.

Texas recorded 285 virus-related deaths over the weekend, according to the state’s health department.

• New Mexico’s rapid response watchlist, which documents locations with multiple rapid responses in a 14-day period, included 11 Curry County establishments and four Roosevelt County establishments Monday afternoon.

A rapid response is initiated when a positive case of COVID-19 is identified at a business or school.

The list includes eight schools. Barry Elementary has three rapid responses, and seven schools have two each — Clovis High School Freshman Academy, Dora High School, Highland Elementary, La Casita Elementary and Yucca, Gattis and Marshall middle schools.

Non-school entities with multiple rapid responses include Southwest Cheese with four and six with two each — Lowe’s Home Improvement, Kidskare, BNSF Railways and High Plains Sleep Disorders in Clovis and Roosevelt County Rural Phone and the Allsup’s location at 1032 W. Second St. in Portales.

Any establishment that has four rapid responses in a 14-day period is subject to a potential 14-day closure — or in the case of a school building, a two-week remote learning period. The state evaluates each establishment on a case-by-case basis.