COVID-19 outbreak at Hobbs prison drives up case numbers

Matthew Reisen, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·1 min read

Feb. 26—The state tallied 659 additional COVID-19 cases and 14 deaths from the virus in an update Friday afternoon. It was the first time the daily case count has risen above 500 in 12 days.

The spike was largely fueled by 191 new cases of COVID-19 among inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility, which has now seen 672 total cases.

The new numbers pushed the rolling averages to 384 cases and 12 deaths a day. This time last month, the averages sat at 763 cases and 28 deaths a day.

Six of the 14 most recent deaths were from Bernalillo County and all but six had reported underlying conditions. The deceased ranged in age from their 50s to their 90s.

The majority of new cases came from Bernalillo County, the Lea County Correctional Facility and Doña Ana County with 209, 191 and 58 cases, respectively.

So far, New Mexico has recorded 184,736 cases of COVID-19 and 3,685 deaths from the virus since the pandemic began.

There are currently 226 people hospitalized with the virus across New Mexico, a number that may include those who tested positive out of state but are hospitalized here.

As of today, 141,833 cases of COVID-19 have been designated as having recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health.