Special Report

These Are the Counties in the Albuquerque, NM Metro Area With the Least COVID-19

Samuel Stebbins

Published: November 17, 2021 2:30 am

Despite the ongoing vaccination effort, new daily cases of COVID-19 are beginning to rise once again in parts of the United States. To date, 46,570,559 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 754,062 have died as a result. On a per capita basis, the U.S. has one of the highest known infections rates in the world.

In the Albuquerque metropolitan area, located in New Mexico, a total of 108,040 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 11,872 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 14,234 cases per 100,000 people.

The lower than average per capita COVID-19 infection rate across Albuquerque is being driven by one area in particular.

The broader Albuquerque metro area comprises four counties or county equivalents — and of them, Torrance County in New Mexico has the fewest COVID-19 cases per capita. So far, there have been a total of 1,488 infections in Torrance County, or 9,542 for every 100,000 people.

Not only does Torrance County have the lowest per capita infection rate in the Albuquerque metro area, it also has a relatively low per capita fatality rate.

There have been a total of 128 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Torrance County, below the 174 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Albuquerque metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of Nov. 15, 2021.

These are all the counties in New Mexico where COVID-19 is slowing (and where it’s still getting worse).