Region sees second COVID-19 death

A Roosevelt County woman has died from complications related to COVID-19, state health officials announced Monday afternoon.

And the virus numbers are spiking in several area counties, records show.

Roosevelt General Hospital CEO Kaye Green on Monday said the Portales woman who died was in her 60s and had underlying health conditions.

She had been hospitalized in Lubbock the past several weeks, Green said in a video posted to Facebook.

She’s just the second COVID-19-related fatality from eastern New Mexico. A Quay County man died in April after contracting the virus on a cruise ship.

While deaths and hospitalizations have been few throughout the region since the pandemic started, recent numbers suggest the virus remains a concern.

Parmer County on Monday had 120 confirmed cases of COVID-19, despite having a population of less than 10,000 people.

Some of those confirmed cases have required hospitalization. “But I do not know the number of how many there have been,” Parmer County Judge Trey Ellis said late Monday afternoon.

“We had it in our nursing homes, and I know that several of those folks have been hospitalized, but I understand that they are recovering. I haven’t been notified of any fatalities.”

Ellis said many of the Parmer County cases have been connected to a nursing home in Friona.

Others are tied to family and friends throughout the county who have failed to isolate after testing positive.

“People don’t understand what quarantine means,” Ellis said.

“People say, ‘I can’t get out so why don’t y’all come out and see me?’ That’s how it’s spreading in family groups.”

Ellis said Cargill Meat Solutions outside Friona remains relatively safe from the virus.

“I’m sure that Cargill has a few cases,” he said, “but that’s not where our problem is. As a matter of fact, Cargill is probably one of the safest places to be out there.”

Bailey County jail has 10 cases

Bailey County had only 34 cases as of Monday, but officials said nine county jail inmates and one employee have tested positive in the past week.

County Attorney Jackie Claborn stated in a news release that everyone testing positive has been quarantined. Visitation inside the jail has also been halted.

Numbers up in NM also

In Curry County, Plains Regional Medical Center confirmed Monday that an employee has recently tested positive. Administrator Drew Dostal did not provide details on the employee, other than to note a preliminary investigation suggests the employee was not infected by a patient.

Curry County had 36 cases confirmed on May 15. That number had swelled to 83 by Monday.

Roosevelt County’s confirmed cases have also been on the rise, from 14 a month ago to 53 as of Monday.

But officials say part of the reason for the higher numbers is that more tests have been conducted in the past month, and few seriously ill patients have been reported in Curry or Roosevelt counties.

Statewide, New Mexico had reported 440 deaths as of Monday with more than 4,000 of the 9,845 COVID-19 cases classified as recovered.

Those hospitalized with the virus have dropped from a high of 223 on May 15 to 161 as of Monday.