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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 1,837 new COVID-19 cases (roughly comparable to the prior day), bringing the statewide total so far to 499,392; DOH has designated 370,041 of those cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 581 cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 239 and Sandoval County with 179. Santa Fe County had 107 new cases.
According to a revamped weekly vaccine report that now includes data on booster shots, between Feb. 1-7, 63.3% of COVID-19 cases were among people who had not completed a primary vaccination series; 28.7% were among those who had completed the series but had not received a booster; and 8% of breakthrough cases were among those who were fully vaccinated and boosted. As for hospitalizations, 81.3% were among those who did not start or complete a vaccination series; 16.4% were for those who had completed their primary series but were un-boosted; and 2.3% of hospitalizations were among people who were fully vaccinated and boosted. Those percentages shift to 88.5%, 10.9% and 0.7% for fatalities.
The state also reported 32 additional deaths yesterday, 25 of them recent, including a Santa Fe County female in her 90s who had been a resident of Kingston Residence of Santa Fe. Santa Fe County has now had 240 fatalities; there have been 6,629 statewide. As of yesterday, 534 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, 35 fewer than the day before and an approximate 21% decrease from two weeks ago.
Currently, 91.5% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.5% have completed their primary series. Among the same demographic, 42.9% have had a booster shot and 63.7% of all eligible New Mexicans have received one (with a breakdown viewable in the slide below). In the 12-17-year-old age group, 70.5% of people have had at least one dose and 60.1% have completed their primary series. Among children ages 5-11, 36.8% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 26.3% have completed their primary series. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 86.5% have completed their primary series.
New Mexicans can register for a COVID-19 vaccine here, schedule a COVID-19 vaccine booster here and view a public calendar for vaccine availability here. Parents can add dependents to their vaccine profiles here. You can read the guidelines for quarantine and isolation here.
You can order free at-home COVID-19 tests here and find other testing options at findatestnm.org. New Mexicans living in ZIP codes disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 may be eligible for five free tests through Accesscovidtest.org. The health department is offering drive-through PCR testing through Feb. 21; to find an appointment (recommended only for people with symptoms), register here. You can self-report a positive COVID-19 test result to the health department here.
The state also is encouraging people who test positive for COVID-19 to seek treatments, such as the oral treatments Paxlovid (age 12+) and Molnupiravir (age 18+); as well as monoclonal antibody treatment. People seeking treatment who do not have a medical provider can call NMDOH’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-855-600-3453.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
City hires former Webber campaign staff member
The City of Santa Fe announced yesterday Daniel “Danny” Maki began work on Monday as a “senior advisor/neighborhood engagement coordinator.” According to a news release, Maki “will act as a liaison” between city government leadership and local communities/organizations “to ensure real-time communications and feedback on city policies and procedures” and will act in an “advisory role” to City Manager John Blair, Mayor Alan Webber and city councilors. Maki served as field director for Webber’s most recent mayoral campaign; as campaign manager for Roman Abeyta’s losing re-election campaign for District 3; ran for the Public Regulation Commission in 2012 (lost); and previously worked for both US Sen. Ben Ray Lujan, D-NM, and former Gov. Bill Richardson (as did Maki’s father, Walter “Butch” Maki). According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, Danny Maki, husband of city Finance Director Mary McCoy, will earn $75,000 annually in the new job; a city spokesman was unable to provide the paper immediate information on either how long the city had advertised the position nor how many applicants it had received due to a “technical issue” related to a change in the Human Resources software. The city also announced Melissa McDonald has been named Parks and Open Spaces director within the Public Works Department after serving as interim director for more than a year, and named Manuel Gonzales director of Information Technology and Telecommunications, after he, too, served in the role in an interim capacity.
Court allows feral cow elimination to proceed
A federal court has denied the New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the US Forest Service from shooting out of helicopters at feral cows in the Gila National Forest. According to the Albuquerque Journal, the Wildlife Services began aerial surveys Monday in the Gila Wilderness and will kill the “unbranded and unauthorized cows” with “suppressed firearms and non-toxic copper bullets.” As the New York Times notes, since 1994, the US Forest Service has removed more than 640 such cattle from the Gila. While the federal government, environmentalists and ranchers agree the feral cattle represent problems, the Cattle Growers Association objected to the current plan, with NMCGA President Loren Patterson calling it “inhumane” in a statement: “Today is a sad day for the livestock industry. The federal government has made up rules about what it can do, regardless of whether it was given that authority and regardless of whether its action violates New Mexico state law. Killing of cattle by a government sniper from a helicopter is inhumane. Cattle will be wounded and suffer, calves will be left motherless. It is appalling and hypocritical that animal rights organizations have not voiced a strong protest and instead support these actions.” Numerous Republican state lawmakers and US Rep. Yvette Herrell, R-NM, also have objected to the plan. The state House Agriculture, Acequias and Water Resources Committee yesterday passed a House Memorial sponsored by two Republican state lawmakers calling on the state livestock board and agriculture departments to work together with federal agencies to resolve the issue.
Income project focuses on undocumented families
Earlier this week, the New Mexico Economic Relief Working Group announced plans to launch a yearlong, statewide guaranteed basic income pilot project. The initiative follows a smaller-scale project the City of Santa Fe began six months ago providing $400 a month to 100 student-parents enrolled at Santa Fe Community College. The new undertaking will provide 330 families from 13 of New Mexico’s 33 counties monthly payments of $550. Funding came from $3 million in private dollars for the design, evaluation and roll-out of the project through the WK Kellogg Foundation and UpTogether. To be eligible, families must have a mixed-immigration because “immigrants are the ones that are often not just left out of cash assistance in its different forms, but also in just basic services that are available to folks who are non-immigrants,” Marcela Diaz, executive director of Somos Un Pueblo Unido, one of the advocacy groups involved in the effort, says, noting that undocumented families were unable to access much of the relief money available to others during the pandemic. “They were the last to leave their jobs at the onset of the pandemic, and the first to return, in part because they didn’t have all that other support,” she says. Eligible families who are residents of Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, McKinley, Curry, Roosevelt, San Juan, Chaves, Lea, Doña Ana, Luna, Grant or Hidalgo counties can apply through the online application, available in English and Spanish, until 3 pm today.
Listen up
If you’ve been wondering about the latest progress on the Midtown campus, be sure to tune in for the first of a two-part podcast from Santa Fe Art Institute (located on the Midtown property). SFAI’s Tilt podcast delves into the work underway by the Santa Fe Midtown Engagement Partners (of which SFAI is one), talking with Chainbreaker, Earth Care, Littleglobe, Youthworks and the University of New Mexico’s Design and Planning Assistance Center about “building trust in and through community engagement, and why it is important that such different organizations with different missions come together to dream of a better future.” Part 1, “We Are Stronger Together” is out now; part 2 is scheduled for Feb. 25.
Feel the love 💕💕💕
With Valentine’s Day falling on a Monday, this weekend has a little bit of everything for those wanting to celebrate, whether alone or together, muttering under one’s breath or bursting into show tunes in public. Book lovers will want to check out the Love Your Library book sale taking place today through Sunday at op.city books in DeVargas mall. A benefit for Vista Grande Public Library in Eldorado, op.cit will be selling hundreds of books for $1 each with all proceeds supporting VGPL. Find the full details in this week’s SFR Picks, along with other recommendations for your weekend. Looking for some star-powered nostalgia to soothe your beating heart? The New Mexico Actors Lab will be putting on Love Letters by AR Gurney throughout the weekend, starring Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter from Family Ties, and, yes, it’s all sold out but there are a few seats left for the Gala, which includes a reception with the stars, so maybe you’re interested? Last-minute V-day shoppers won’t want to sleep on Pushpin Collaborative Co’s pop-up sale featuring Plantita Vegan Bakery and Sage Sparrow Florals with Valentine’s cards made by local artists. You’ll find many more events for the weekend in SFR’s calendar. The Word is partial to chocolates, in case you were wondering.
On the slopes
The recent Washington Post story, “How four ski resorts are working to slow their demise” doesn’t have the most inspirational headline, but Taos Ski Valley’s efforts to battle climate change, self-serving or not, receives warranted mention. As the story’s intro notes, climate change’s threats to the ski industry have been well-documented (short version: declining snowpack = bad for skiing), and the industry itself has any number of environmentally damaging practices. At Taos Ski Valley, the resort’s Chief Executive David Norden tells the Post, “We take everything into consideration before making changes: The environment, sustainability and social responsibility are all taken into account.” Examples: Taos Ski Valley has been a B-corp since 2017 (the country’s first ski resort with that designation); it’s a charter signatory of the Nature Conservancy’s Rio Grande Water Fund; and has committed to being carbon neutral by 2030. Taos Ski Valley also won its third Golden Eagle award for sustainability from the National Ski Areas Association last June.
Have a happy sunny, warm, windy, cold weekend
Today will be sunny with a high near 52 degrees and north wind 10 to 20 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Tonight after 11 pm, the National Weather Service forecasts a 20% chance of snow, segueing into a cooler day on Saturday with a high temp “near” 40 degrees (we assume this means in the high 30s), and back up in the low 50s on Sunday. Sunny all weekend with plenty of wind.
Thanks for reading! The Word is ending this week the same way she ended last week: Watching Nathan Chen (and reading this New Yorker story about his Olympic gold-winning performance).
