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New Mexico starts July with a new public health law eliminating the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in place to varying degrees since the pandemic began in March, 2020.
It will end the month minus a health secretary.
Dr. Tracie Collins announced, via a news release from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office, she will be returning to academic work at the University of New Mexico, where she served as dean of the College of Population Health prior to joining DOH in December.
“We were fortunate enough to have the chance to steal Dr. Collins for a few months, and we will keep working together in whatever context,” the governor said in a statement. “We’d be delighted to have her forever. At UNM, where our partnership will continue, she will be preparing and training the next generation of public health responders and leaders, and we all recognize how incredibly important that is for our state.”
Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase—who provided regular epidemiology and medical updates throughout the pandemic in public briefings—will “step in” to lead the department upon Collins’ departure while continuing to also lead HSD. Scrase served a comparable role after former Health Secretary Kathyleen Kunkel announced her retirement last summer.
In a statement, Collins expressed gratitude to her DOH colleagues and the governor: “Our partnership has been the foundation of an incredibly successful vaccination drive. I’m proud of the work we’ve done to protect New Mexicans, especially with our emphasis on equity and reaching underserved populations.”
New Mexico health officials today reported 87 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 205,629. The health department has designated 194,605 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 13 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 10 and Sandoval County with eight. Santa Fe County had seven new cases, five from the Southside 87507 ZIP code, which ranked first in the state today for the most new cases.
The state also announced three additional deaths, two of which were recent; there have now been 4,343 total fatalities. According to DOH, COVID-related deaths are only reported when a death certificate has been issued and some death certificates are delayed due to insufficient information.
As of today, 72 people are hospitalized with COVID-19.*
Currently, 70.8% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 62.3% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 78.3% have had at least one dose and 69.5% are fully inoculated.
Please note, SFR yesterday stated it would no longer be reporting daily COVID-19 numbers every afternoon (but will continue reporting them each morning). However, news of Collins’ departure came shortly before today’s numbers, so we figured we’d make today the last regular day we do so instead.
New cases
- 13 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 5 new cases in Cibola County
- 13 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 3 new cases in Eddy County
- 3 new cases in Grant County
- 2 new cases in Guadalupe County
- 3 new cases in McKinley County
- 2 new cases in Otero County
- 4 new cases in Rio Arriba County
- 2 new cases in Roosevelt County
- 8 new cases in Sandoval County
- 10 new cases in San Juan County
- 1 new case in San Miguel County
- 7 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 4 new cases in Taos County
- 2 new cases in Torrance County
- 5 new cases in Valencia County
New fatalities
- A male in his 40s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 60s from Rio Arriba County who was hospitalized
Newly reported fatalities more than 30 days old
- A male in his 70s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
Congregate facilities
The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following facilities:
- Aztec Healthcare in Aztec
- Cedar Ridge Inn in Farmington
- Good Samaritan Society Las Cruces
- The Rio at Las Estancias in Albuquerque
- Sierra Hills Assisted Living in Truth or Consequences
Statewide cases
County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.
- Bernalillo County: 59,131
- Catron County: 97
- Chaves County: 9,073
- Cibola County: 2,914
- Colfax County: 799
- Curry County: 5,332
- De Baca County: 178
- Doña Ana County: 25,121
- Eddy County: 6,958
- Grant County: 1,754
- Guadalupe County: 471
- Harding County: 13
- Hidalgo County: 367
- Lea County: 8,449
- Lincoln County: 1,765
- Los Alamos County: 538
- Luna County: 3,382
- McKinley County: 12,385
- Mora County: 175
- Otero County: 4,074
- Quay County: 537
- Rio Arriba County: 3,798
- Roosevelt County: 2,032
- Sandoval County: 12,258
- San Juan County: 15,740
- San Miguel County: 1,409
- Santa Fe County: 10,621
- Sierra County: 779
- Socorro County: 1,330
- Taos County: 1,725
- Torrance County: 889
- Union County: 260
- Valencia County: 6,925
Cases among people being held by federal agencies
- Cibola County Correctional Center: 449
- Otero County Federal Prison Facility: 447
- Otero County Processing Center: 261
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 202
Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections
- Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 301
- Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 255
- Lea County Correctional Facility: 762
- Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 167
- Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 128
- Otero County Prison Facility: 473
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 219
- Roswell Correctional Center: 229
- Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 231
- Springer Correctional Center in Colfax County: 151
- Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 75
*Per the health department, hospitalization figures include people who were tested elsewhere but are hospitalized in New Mexico, but don’t include people who were tested here but are hospitalized out of state.
