COVID-19
This new page on the Beat, as of March 18, 2020, will be dedicated to news on COVID-19 as we receive it. Some articles in front page news, in legal notices, columns, in sports, in editorials or letters to the editor, as well as in local and non-local news releases may also pertain to COVID-19. So please look at all pages in the Beat for ongoing news.
COVID Report for 051422
THIS WEEK'S SUMMARY - May 14, 2022 - We are still in a wave with low daily cases so far but case doubling times may be a concern. Mitigating that is warm weather and the fact waves seem to have a limited duration. Just be wise.
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA - Grant County cases and positivity rose. After no workplace cases for a while, there were 6 new workplace cases this week, 5 the week before [see page 19]. Case doubling times averaged 5 days this week (not good). GRMC Covid admissions are negligible. Silver City week on week cases more than tripled.
OUR STATE - NM Daily Cases, positivity, and workplace cases rose. People ventilated have jumped [see page 3] [also see last week's report]. Omicron variant BA.2 increased. Case doubling times have been around 2 weeks. Data by county are on page 14 and 33.
NEIGHBORING STATES - AZ data is very limited, but its positivity and cases are rising (AZDHS and CDC). CO cases may be leveling, but CO positivity is still rising. TX cases and positivity are both rising.
This Week's Covid Report Summary - May 7, 2022
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA: We are still in a wave: Grant County cases and positivity rose. After no workplace cases for almost a month, there were 5 new workplace cases this week. While recent Grant County cases have been relatively low, remember that Omicron variants are growing. GRMC Covid admissions are very low.
OUR STATE: We are still in a wave. NM Daily Cases are rising as is positivity; NM Workplace Reports are also rising. In NM, BA.2 (an Omicron variant) increased to 35% from 20% from 9%, and 3.5% earlier. The Omicron variant BA.2 has surfaced in Dona Ana.
NEIGHBORING STATES: AZ data is very limited, but its positivity and cases are rising (AZDHS and CDC). CO cases may be leveling, but positivity is still rising. TX cases and positivity are both now rising.
NATIONALLY: We are still in a wave. USA cases, positivity, and hospital admissions rose.
COVID-19 report 043022
THIS WEEK’S COVID SUMMARY - APRIL 30, 2022
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA: A SMALL WAVE WELL BELOW PRIOR MAXIMUMS
Grant County had a small rise in cases but well below recent waves and maximums; and no workplace case reports since April 6, 2022. While recent Grant County cases have been relatively low, remember that Delta has grown 1.2 times; Omicron has grown 2.4 times in the last 3 months. I have refined GRMC data to clarify what it covers; GRMC Covid admissions are very low.
OUR STATE: A WAVE WELL BELOW PRIOR MAXIMUMS
The COVID Report for April 23, 2022
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA: our immediate local area is doing well for now, NM itself less so.
Silver City weekly cases fell, Bayard cases were 0 and Hurley cases rose a small amount. Grant County cases fell, positivity fell, and workplace case reports were 0. NM Daily Cases clearly rising, positivity was mostly level, but doubling times are hovering around 16 days which is a possible concern. Covid hospital beds are mostly level. NM Workplace Reports are slowly rising over the last 2 weeks. In NM, BA.2 increased from 3.5% to 9.1%, original Omicron is 91% which fell from 96%. Delta is dominant in Grant and Dona Ana, with Omicron dominant in Luna. Both are significantly contagious. The variant BA.2 has surfaced in Dona Ana. Mild cases from home testing are not reported, so there may be more cases than official numbers show.
NATIONALLY: there is a small (for now) wave happening
In the USA, BA.2 cases have decreased from 86% to 74%, however new variant BA.2.12.1 is now at 19% in the USA. Regardless, US cases and positivity rose continuing the current (small for now) wave. US hospitalizations appear to have risen based on CDC's most recent 7 daily numbers, but decreased based on an independent 14 day review.
In the 14 day period from the most recent recording date: 04/21/22 04/15/22
The number of states whose cases rose increased to 36 (was 32)
The number of states whose hospitalizations rose increased to 20 (was 12)
In the USA cases increased by 49% (was 32%)
In the USA hospitalizations decreased by 2% (was12%)
See full repot in PDF below:
Covid-19 report for April 16, 2022
There appears to be a small (for now) wave in the USA, far smaller than in Europe, please take care.
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA ~ Silver City weekly cases rose, Bayard cases rose slightly, and Hurley cases rose then fell. Grant County cases rose, positivity rose, however workplace case reports dropped to zero. NM cases and positivity showed a rise for the week but doubling times are not an issue. Covid hospital beds fell. NM Workplace Reports are in essence level. Delta is dominant in Grant and Dona Ana, with Omicron dominant in Luna. Both are significantly contagious. BA.2 has increased overall to 86% of US cases but only 3.5% in NM where original Omicron is still dominant. Interestingly, XE (a BA.1 BA.2 mix) hasn't appeared in CDC or NM reports yet. Mild cases from home testing are not reported, meaning there may be more cases than the official numbers show. Recently, data has had more discrepancies, while explainable, they do obfuscate the issues.
NATIONALLY ~ Cases and positivity rose, and hospitalizations showed a slow trend up. CASES WERE INCREASING IN 32 STATES (up from 28 last week), the cases increased in CO (up 31%), and NM (up 11%), but AZ, and TX did not show increased cases.
See PDF below for full report:
Covid-19 report 040922
OUR GEOGRAPHIC AREA ~ Silver City, Bayard, and Hurley cases are basically very low. Grant County cases showed a very small rise, positivity fell, and workplace case reports are very low. NM cases and positivity showed a rise, and case doubling times may indicate issues. Covid beds fell. Workplace reports rose but are still low. Delta is dominant in Grant and Dona Ana, with Omicron dominant in Luna. BA.2 has increased overall but XE (a BA.1 BA.2 mix) hasn't appeared in CDC or NM reports yet. All that being said, remember that mild cases from home testing are not reported, meaning there may be more cases than the official numbers show. Be safe.
COVID Report - 220402
Overall things look good, and the Omicron sub variant is not rapidly growing where we are. While Grant County COVID ED visit rates were higher than Luna and Dona Ana counties (page 26), Luna County had a higher COVID hospital admission rate (page 25). The NM Vaccination report shows that the relative ratio of vaccinated people in hospitalizations and deaths was higher than in the previous week (page 30); however vaccinated people were still better protected (page 30), and in the USA (page 31). Looking at states whose cases rose, CO and TX improved, however the number of states who cases rose in a 14 day time span increased from 9 to 17 a possible indicator of a (probably) small wave coming. This week added SYMPTOMS and UNDERLYING CONDITIONS to the report, and this report switched sources for Grant County positivity to improve accuracy.
Covid report (expanded) for March 26, 2022
The old Grant County Beat county case list is now here on page 14. Based on requests, new maps and reports covering wider areas; county case rates and trends, ER visits, admissions, variant outcomes, county variants, symptoms, and underlying conditions. Omicron has not increased in Grant County but Delta has. The NM DOH Outlook has Grant County worse than Dona Ana, and both worse than Luna. In New Mexico Omicron and its sub variant has not increased percentages while Delta has. In the USA the original Omicron has decreased percentage while the sub variant BA.2 increased rapidly. Per Becker, nine states have seen cases jump in the last 14 days, TX by 19%, CO by 6%. Johns Hopkins also has CO and TX positivities higher than state dashboards. CO and TX are clearly seeing issues based on both case doubling figures as well as 4, 2, and 1 week trends.