Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico’s most populous counties, Bernalillo and Doña Ana, had all but one of the 11 COVID-19 deaths reported Saturday.
They also continued to see the highest daily case counts, despite only partial results being released by the state due to technical difficulties.
Nora Meyers Sackett, a Governor’s Office spokeswoman, announced at least 592 additional COVID-19 cases statewide. She said any remaining cases will be lumped in with Sunday’s update.
The state has recorded back-to-back record high case counts – of more than 1,000 – alongside a spiking death toll over the past several days with the weekly average surging past 800 cases a day.
Sackett said all of those who died were hospitalized and/or had underlying conditions. They were:
• A man in his 60s and a woman in her 90s from Bernalillo County;
• A woman in her 70s from Bernalillo County who was resident at Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque;
• A woman in her 90s from Bernalillo County who was a resident of Lotus Care Homes Galaxia facility in Albuquerque;
• Two men and a woman, all in their 70s, and another man in his 80s from Doña Ana County;
• A woman in her 80s and a man in his 90s from Doña Ana County who were both residents of Casa del Sol Center facility in Las Cruces; and
• A man in his 40s from Otero County who was hospitalized but had no underlying conditions.
There have now been 1,018 deaths from COVID-19 statewide.
In what has become a trend, Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties saw the highest case counts with 187 and 127, respectively. The two counties have seen their highest number of cases over the past week and no other county reported more than 50 cases Saturday. The next highest was Chaves with 41.
Sackett said there are now 354 people hospitalized with the virus with 79% of general beds and 77% of ICU beds in New Mexico hospitals occupied.
The state has seen a total of 46,490 cases and 21,570 people have been designated as recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health.
