November COVID-19 case count outpacing October's; 1 in 4 tests in county are positive

• San Juan County has second-highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people with 153.8 cases per 100,000 people.
• The county had a 22.86 percent test positivity rate for Nov. 2 through the 15th.
• It is possible the November case count overtakes the October case count, with 12 days remaining to achieve 502 cases.

FARMINGTON — The COVID-19 case count for San Juan County this month appears to be outpacing the case count for October, which had the second-highest count of cases since the pandemic started.

The county is also seeing an increase in its test positivity rate as about one in four COVID-19 tests were positive for the coronavirus.

San Juan County has reported 3,156 COVID-19 cases from Nov. 1 to Nov. 18, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.

During the same time period in October, there were 1,820 COVID-19 cases reported.

Local stakeholders and San Juan Regional Medical Center staff urged the community to stop the spread of COVID-19 during two virtual press conferences hosted by the hospital.

Hospital officials warned there was a surge of COVID-19 patients being admitted to the hospital, which led to 70 additional caregivers being deployed to the hospital.

Area has one of highest new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people rates

San Juan County also showed 153.8 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for Nov. 2 through Nov. 15, which is an increase from 104.5 cases per 100,000 people for the time period between Oct. 19 through Nov. 1.

The county had the second-highest rate statewide for new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for the Nov. 2 through Nov. 15 and Oct. 19 through Nov. 1 reports.

The new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people rate takes into account the population size and the number of cases, according to the state health department. 

It gives a snapshot of how each county is performing, regardless of population size.

The new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people rate for Bernalillo County was 50.3 cases for Nov. 2 through Nov. 15.

County test positivity rate one of highest in state

The data shows an increase in the number of COVID-19 tests which came back positive.

State health department data showed an 18.05 percent test positivity rate for Oct. 19 through Nov. 1 for San Juan County. That rate increased to 22.86 percent for Nov. 2 through Nov. 15.

It was the second-highest test positivity rate in the state, just behind De Baca County’s rate of 23.84 percent, according to NMDOH data.

For New Mexico, the seven-day test positivity rate was 12.3% as listed in the Nov. 18 daily COVID-19 update.

The test positivity rate from Nov. 2 to Nov. 15 for Bernalillo County was 10.32 percent.

November’s case count could surpass October

The month of October had 3,657 positive COVID-19 cases from Oct. 1 to Nov. 1, according to The Daily Times archives.

That was the second-highest monthly COVID-19 case count for the pandemic as December had 4,000 cases reported.

It is possible the November case count could overtake the October case count, with 12 days remaining to achieve 502 cases.

The county reported 254 new COVID-19 cases for Nov. 18, more than double the 112 cases reported for Nov. 17.

Joshua Kellogg covers breaking news for The Daily Times. He can be reached at 505-564-4627 or via email at jkellogg@daily-times.com.

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