Special Report

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

Samuel Stebbins

Published: August 5, 2021 3:30 am

With slowing vaccination rates and the emergence of the Delta variant, COVID-19 continues to spread through the United States. To date, 34,811,492 Americans have been infected with the virus — and 608,288 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 81,209 COVID-19 cases have been reported to date. Adjusted for population, there have been 8,924 reported infections for every 100,000 people in the area — below the national rate of 10,640 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 910 infections in Torrance County, or 5,835 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 103 coronavirus-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Torrance County, below the 150 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 across the entire Albuquerque metro area.

All COVID-19 data used in this story are current as of August 3, 2021.

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