Muleshoe nursing home reports positive test for patient.
The number of COVID-19 cases reported in Curry County have almost tripled in the past month and Bailey County on Monday reported a patient in Muleshoe’s Park View Nursing Care Center had tested positive for the virus.
Also Monday, Bailey County officials reported their second death related to COVID-19, a 76-year-old female.
Curry, Roosevelt and Quay counties have all reported one virus-related death since the pandemic began. Parmer County has reported eight such deaths, most tied to a nursing home in Friona.
Plains Regional Medical Center Administrator Drew Dostal on Monday said the Clovis hospital had no patients admitted because of the virus.
But numbers from New Mexico’s health department show Curry County cases have grown from 108 on June 20 to 316 on Monday. DOH reported Monday that the county had 221 active cases.
Clovis Emergency Management Director Dan Heerding said he had no idea where the positive cases are coming from or whether they might be tied to a specific business or group of people.
“DOH does not provide that information to anyone,” Heerding wrote in a text message.
State health officials are saying cases of the virus continue to surge, prompting Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to discourage out-of-state visitors and restaurant dining with her public health orders in place through next week.
The state reported Monday it had 9,823 active cases, with 578 deaths and 154 people hospitalized. New Mexico had 114 virus-related hospitalizations on June 28; that number was 174 last Wednesday.
A Monday Facebook post from Muleshoe/Bailey County Emergency Management reported Parkview Nursing Care Center will “immediately set up a wing of their facility to house positive Covid-19 residents.”
Officials said they were testing all residents and staff of the nursing home on Tuesday.