Curry County reaches 100 COVID-related deaths

Curry County reached an unwanted milestone Wednesday, with the Department of Health reporting the county’s 100th death related to COVID-19.

DOH reported 18 new deaths in its Wednesday briefing, including four residents of Curry County.

All four Curry deaths reported Wednesday were men, including

-- A man in his 50s who had been hospitalized.

-- A man in his 70s who was hospitalized with underlying conditions.

-- A man in his 80s who was hospitalized.

-- A man in his 70s whose death occurred more than 30 days ago but not confirmed as COVID-related until Wednesday.

Since the pandemic began last year, DOH has reported COVID-related deaths of 65 men and 31 women from Curry County; the gender of four Curry County residents were not provided by the state.

The average age of those deceased has been 71 years. The county’s first COVID-related death was a man in his 70s reported July 7, 2020. The county has recorded 14 COVID-related deaths since August of this year after recording zero the month before.

The state has reported 4,649 COVID-related deaths overall, including 65 in Roosevelt County and 12 in Quay County.

The state has reported 243,085 cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began, with 211,164 recoveries as of Wednesday. DOH officials said 375 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Plains Regional Medical Center officials on Wednesday reported 20 patients were hospitalized with COVID, including five in intensive care and two on ventilators.

Roosevelt General Hospital in Portales reported two COVID patients were hospitalized on Tuesday, five hospitalized on Wednesday.