San Juan County's COVID cases fall 30.8%; New Mexico cases plummet 16.3%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
Phlebotomist April Aymong prepares a sample to be sent for COVID-19 testing at Salem Health Laboratory in Salem, Oregon on July 12.
Phlebotomist April Aymong prepares a sample to be sent for COVID-19 testing at Salem Health Laboratory in Salem, Oregon on July 12.

New Mexico reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 5,558 new cases. That's down 16.3% from the previous week's tally of 6,637 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

New Mexico ranked 11th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 14.2% from the week before, with 781,487 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.71% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 13 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

San Juan County reported 348 cases and two deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 503 cases and four deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 45,878 cases and 814 deaths.

​ Across New Mexico, cases fell in 24 counties, with the best declines in Bernalillo County, with 1,577 cases from 1,856 a week earlier; in San Juan County, with 348 cases from 503; and in Santa Fe County, with 389 cases from 493. ​

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases​

Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Roosevelt County with 519 cases per 100,000 per week; McKinley County with 401; and Doña Ana County with 364. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 1,577 cases; Doña Ana County, with 795 cases; and Sandoval County, with 411. Weekly case counts rose in six counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Sierra, Mora and Torrance counties.

In New Mexico, ​ 36 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 55 people were reported dead.

A total of 596,599 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,282 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 92,112,922 people have tested positive and 1,033,556 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Aug. 7. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 404

  • The week before that: 418

  • Four weeks ago: 405

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 72,801

  • The week before that: 72,098

  • Four weeks ago: 67,603

Hospitals in 24 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 24 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 33 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: San Juan County reported 348 new COVID-19 cases last week