Virus cases on rise in area

SANTA FE — New cases of COVID-19 continued their weekly rise as October closed out, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

The DOH reported a weekend total of 2,630 cases between Saturday and Monday, the first day of November.

That is the highest weekend total reported by the state including October case counts, ahead of the Oct. 12 (2,433), Oct. 18 (1,895) and Oct. 4 (1,776) reports. The Oct. 12 report included four days of reporting due to Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Oct. 11.

The Monday report also recorded 39 cases in Curry County and 31 in Roosevelt County. No city in either county made the top 10 ZIP codes for infections, which ranged from 53 to 187.

Among the 12 deaths reported by the state was the first death reported in Roosevelt County since Oct. 4 and 69th since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020. Curry County has reported 119 deaths.

The report of a man in his 70s with underlying conditions was a death more than 30 days old, as the state waits on death certificates to report COVID-19 deaths.

For October, with reports including the first day of November, Curry County recorded 350 cases and Roosevelt County 189. Curry County recorded 869 cases in August and 741 in September, while Roosevelt County recorded 304 cases in August and 192 in September.