COVID-19 showed its teeth once again this last month, more than doubling the number of new COVID cases from September. October saw one COVID-related death of a Cibola community member, and broke a streak of no COVID-deaths which began in September. Winter comes closer and closer, bringing with it the chill of the cold. As more and more people go inside to stay warm, the disease finds a great opportunity to transmit. A great way to check for the COVID danger to the community is by watching the number of active cases. September saw a massive decrease in active cases, but October has seen a massive increase in active cases, ending the month with 343 active cases – the highest count of active cases in the county since August. Despite rising numbers, the Centers for Disease Control has declared the COVID threat to Cibola as “low”, jumping to “medium” for one week, but then back to “low”.
Only one age group saw a massive spike in COVID infections through October, schoolaged children aged 10-19 years old. The 30-39 and 40-49-year-old age groups tied for the second highest COVID growth, followed by the 60-69year-old age group.
The vaccination rates in Cibola increased at the end of September, the first official increase in vaccination rates since July. Since that one bump, no new vaccinations have been reported for the whole of Cibola. This news comes as the New Mexico Department of Health has made a costly advertising push to get vaccinations on the rise in Cibola, a push that is not showing results.
COVID’s Rise in October
While it was not an astronomical rise, COVID-19 was on the rise through October.
At the beginning of October, Cibola had a total case load of 8,560 COVID cases. Cibola ended the month with a total count of 8,720 cases. This means there were 160 new COVID cases in October. This increase in COVID cases follows the average roll of the year. Almost every month has had over 100 new cases, except September, which only had 70 new cases through the month. When the month began, Cibola had 286 active cases. The second week had 314 active cases. The third week had 326 active cases. The fourth week had 328 active cases, and the fifth week of October had 343 active cases. September appeared to show a pattern of decreasing COVID cases, this did not last as October came into focus with a massive increase in COVID-19 cases. After five weeks of consecutive COVID case growth through October, data appears to show a pattern of increasing COVID cases.
New Cases in Cibola
January had 1,311 new cases. February had 308 new cases. March had 115 new cases. April had 106 new cases. May had 222 new cases. June had 330 new cases. July had 290 new cases. August had 217 new cases. September had 70 new cases.
October had 160 new cases.
COVID-19 Increase by Age Group
COVID case growth was primarily increased by teenagers. 30-39 and 40-49-year-olds saw the second highest increase. The third highest increase came from the 60-69year-old age groups. The 10-19-year-old age group increase the COVID count by 38 cases over the month. No other age group passed 30 new cases. The 30-39 and 40-49year-old age groups each increased the total count by 22 cases. These two demographics had the second highest increase in COVID cases. The 60-69-year-old age had the third highest increase of 18 cases.
The 0-9, 20-29, 5059-year-old age groups all tied for the fourth highest increase in COVID cases. They all added 17 cases The 70-79-year-old demographic had an increase of seven cases.
The 80-89-year-old demographic had an increase of four cases.
The 90+ Demographic had an increase of two cases. AS COVID cases rise in Cibola, especially among the youth, Cibola has seen very little increase in COVID-19 vaccinations.