San Juan County's COVID new cases flat; New Mexico cases fall 7.2%

New Mexico reported 1,580 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, down 7.2% from the previous week. The previous week had 1,702 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

New Mexico ranked 44th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

In New Mexico, 37 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 32 people were reported dead.

A total of 617,178 people in New Mexico have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,552 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,070,980 people have tested positive and 1,056,416 people have died.

In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 0.6% from the week before, with 401,433 cases reported. With 0.63% of the country's population, New Mexico had 0.39% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 17 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

San Juan County reported 87 cases and five deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 88 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 47,229 cases and 829 deaths.

Across New Mexico, cases fell in 20 counties, with the best declines in McKinley County, with 78 cases from 121 a week earlier; in Curry County, with 27 cases from 56; and in Lea County, with 14 cases from 39. ​

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within New Mexico, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Rio Arriba County with 247 cases per 100,000 per week; Grant County with 126; and Valencia County with 119. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Bernalillo County, with 587 cases; Sandoval County, with 129 cases; and Santa Fe County, with 98. Weekly case counts rose in 10 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Rio Arriba, Grant and Bernalillo counties.

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New Mexico's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 25. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

• Last week: 182
• The week before that: 143
• Four weeks ago: 177

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

• Last week: 55,707
• The week before that: 55,506
• Four weeks ago: 64,244

Hospitals in 13 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 20 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 25 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.