Local COVID-19 case count soars; no new deaths reported

SANTA FE — Curry County and Clovis made quite the mark on the weekend COVID-19 case report from the New Mexico Department of Health. The county posted by far its highest weekend total since the state began consolidating those reports.

The county recorded 246 new cases of COVID-19 between Christmas Eve and Monday, fourth among all New Mexico counties. The top three counties were Santa Fe (248), Dona Ana (277) and Bernalillo (960). All three of those counties have more than triple Curry's population, with Bernalillo County having nearly 14 times the population but less than four times as many cases.

Of the cases, 209 came from Clovis' 88101 ZIP code. Clovis was the top ZIP code for new cases by a long shot, beating out Albuquerque's 87114 (117) and 87124 (98) ZIP codes.

One year ago, Curry County recorded 116 new COVID-19 cases from Dec. 24-27.

Roosevelt County, meanwhile, recorded 21 new cases.

But while case counts soared, none of the 29 deaths reported statewide over the weekend were from Curry or Roosevelt counties.

The state's seven-day positivity rate moved up to 10%, up from last Monday's 9.4%.

In other COVID-19 developments

• The DOH said Monday it would not provide daily reports this week due to the holiday season, but reversed that decision Tuesday morning.

“It was previously reported that the COVID-19 case count report would be available on an abbreviated holiday schedule this week,” the DOH release said. “However, due to the presence of (the Omicron variant), case counts will be monitored in the daily report and made available per usual and without interruption.”

• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, citing data that shows most transmission now “occurs early in the course of illness,” shortened its recommended quarantine time from 10 to five days if no symptoms are shown. “People who test positive should isolate for 5 days and, if asymptomatic at that time, they may leave isolation if they can continue to mask for 5 days to minimize the risk of infecting others," the CDC said in a statement.

The CDC recommends any exposed person who is unvaccinated or more than six months past full vaccination should quarantine for five days. Anybody who has gotten a booster doesn't need to quarantine after an exposure, the CDC said, but they should wear a mask for the following 10 days.

In the U.S. as of Monday, 242 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, 205 million are fully vaccinated and 66 million have received a booster, according to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker.

Locally, Curry is 23rd in the state with a. 55.4% vaccination rate. Roosevelt County is last among the state's 33 counties with a 42% rate.