Cases, hospitalizations and deaths all up in NM

Jan. 26—Cases, deaths and hospitalizations were all up on Wednesday from the day before as the New Mexico continues to report high volumes of COVID-19 cases amid a surge of the highly infectious omicron variant.

The state reported 4,119 new COVID cases and 40 deaths on Wednesday. COVID hospitalizations were at 709, up from 639 hospitalizations on Monday. That marks an 11% increase in two days. The state's positivity rate for COVID tests in the last week is at 29.9%.

The deaths reported Wednesday included 25 recent deaths and 15 deaths that were more than 30 days old. Two men from McKinley County in their 30s who didn't have pre-existing conditions were among the dead. The statewide toll is at 6,357 since the start of the pandemic.

Bernalillo County residents accounted for 1,164 of new cases and 10 of the deaths.

State Department of Health officials have said in the last year about 89% of those who died of COVID were unvaccinated.

But breakthrough cases do happen, including to a U.S. representative from the Albuquerque area.

Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday, prompting her to reschedule a tour of her district on Thursday to highlight various projects funded with the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

Julia Friedmann, a spokeswoman for Stansbury, said the Democratic representative will quarantine at home for five days and follow CDC guidelines. Stansbury was fully vaccinated and had gotten a booster shot, she wrote on Twitter.

"I am little worse for wear this morning, but on the mend," Stansbury said in a Twitter thread Wednesday, in which she encouraged people to get the vaccine and booster shots and to wear proper masks and socially distance.

"Last week I had to travel to DC for votes, and though I was extremely careful, omicron is highly transmissible and exposure can happen in countless ways," she wrote.