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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 14,898 new COVID-19 cases for the three-day period of Jan. 22-24, bringing the statewide total so far to 452,616; DOH has designated 333,146 of those cases as recovered. The statewide test positivity rate rose from 29% to 30.8% (the target is 7.5%).
Bernalillo County had 4,150 cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 2,043 and San Juan County with 1,279. Santa Fe County had 929, 342 of them in the 87507 ZIP code, which ranked ninth in the state for the most new cases among ZIP codes.
The state’s most recent vaccination report shows over the four-week period between Dec. 20 and Jan. 17, 57% of cases were among those not fully vaccinated, as were 80.7% of hospitalizations and 93.8% of deaths.
The state also reported 33 additional deaths, 17 recent and 16 from more than 30 days ago, including a Santa Fe County female in her 60s who had been hospitalized. Santa Fe County has now had 220 deaths; there have been 6,292 statewide. As of yesterday, 639 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, six more than last Friday.
Currently, 91.2% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.1% have completed their primary series. Among the same demographic, 40.8% have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 69.5% of people have had at least one dose and 59.1% have completed their primary series. Among children ages 5-11, 34.4% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 23.1% have completed their primary series. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 86.4% have completed their primary series.
Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber yesterday signed an updated COVID-19 emergency proclamation (the prior one expired yesterday), updating the protocols under the public health emergency. Changes include requiring new city employees to maintain “up to date” vaccination statuses (aka booster shots) as a condition of employment; and issuing five days of administrative leave to each city employee for “verified COVID-19 purposes,” such as quarantine or isolation. “With the surge in Omicron cases in Santa Fe and across New Mexico, it’s as important as ever to continue doing all we can to protect the public and to limit the harms being caused by this pandemic,” Webber said in a statement. “Santa Feans have done a great job getting vaccinated so far, but we have to stay vigilant. I urge everyone to get a booster as soon as they’re able and to use KN95-rated masks in indoor spaces.”
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 updated guidelines for quarantine and isolation here.
You can order free at-home COVID-19 tests here and access the DOH testing directory here.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
Pay plan for lawmakers passes first committee
A proposal that could ultimately lead to salaries for state legislators passed the Senate Rules Committee on a 7-1 vote yesterday and now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senate Joint Resolution 8 would amend the state Constitution and empower the State Ethics Commission to set salaries every two years for state lawmakers. If the Legislature passes the bill, voters will decide whether to approve the proposal via a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. The proposal would also give the state Supreme Court authority to appoint two of the ethics commission’s seven members. According to the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico is the only state that does not provide legislators a salary, although they can receive legislative pension plans and per diem payments during the session. In addition to setting salaries for legislators, the state Ethics Commission would also decide on compensation for approximately 330 elected state officials every two years, including the governor and judges, whose salaries currently are set by law. Both Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and former Gov. Susana Martinez previously vetoed plans to raise their own $110,000 salaries. Voters, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe said, don’t want elected officials to set their own salaries. “I think the independent commission is the key to the success of this.”
Sunport changes on the way
Changes are coming to the Albuquerque International Sunport: City leaders yesterday unveiled renovation plans for the airport, which will include three major components. According to a news release, the first phase will involverelocating the TSA screening checkpoint north towards the escalators, followed by behind-the-scenes work modernizing the Sunport’s fire suppression; HVAC; plumbing, mechanical and electrical infrastructure. The infrastructure work will also convert lighting throughout the terminal to LED. Lastly, the airport will be revamping the Sunport’s food, beverage and retail area with “a new look and expanded dining and retail opportunities.” The airport, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement, “is the gateway to our city and our state, and a renovation of this magnitude to the infrastructure of the building and the area where travelers spend most of their time is long overdue. With this project, we are continuing to drive forward and improve the safety and ease of the traveler experience from the curb to the gate.” Richard McCurley, interim director of aviation for the City of Albuquerque said while the project is in an early phase, “we’re eager to be working with experts in airport concessions to reimagine our current offerings and explore the possibilities with a new footprint on the third level.” The airport’s layout for concessions hasn’t been redesigned since prior to 9/11; construction for the $85 million project is expected to begin in January, 2023.
Bill proposes boost for cannabis micro-businesses
When the state Cannabis Control Division announced last week it had doubled the cannabis plant-count limits for producers, one sector of the nascent industry had been left out: micro-businesses. The Cannabis Regulation Act defines micro-businesses as producers growing no more than 200 mature plants. A proposed bill from state Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, and state Rep. Andrea Romero, D-Santa Fe, Senate Bill 100, however, would increase the production limit for micro-businesses to 1,000 plants, SFR’s Bella Davis reports. Advocates support the move, which comes in advance of the April 1 start date for adult cannabis sales. “I think it’s essential that micro-businesses be allowed to grow more,” Emily Kaltenbach, chairwoman of the Cannabis Regulatory Advisory Committee and state director of the Drug Policy Alliance, tells SFR. “It’s critical for equity that plant limits be raised when other licensees have had their rates increased.” The bill is currently in the Senate Committees Committee.
Listen up
Actor William H. Macey is coming to Las Cruces in March for the Las Cruces International Film Festival, at which he will receive the 2022 award for Outstanding Achievement in Entertainment. On the most recent episode of the Las Cruces Sun-News podcast The Reporter’s Notebook, host Damien Willis talks with reporter Leah Romero about her interview with Macy, and features some select audio from that interview.
Get creative
The New Yorker profiles New Mexico writer Julia Cameron, whose book The Artist’s Way turned Cameron into, the story says, “a self-help celebrity” (Cameron says she doesn’t consider The Artist’s Way a self-help book). The book relies on two core practices—”Morning Pages” and “Artist Dates” (both began, she says, in Taos)—with Cameron’s practical approach to building a creative practice resonating far and wide: The book has sold more than four million copies since it was first published in 1992. Prior to writing The Artist’s Way, Cameron had a notable career in journalism at Rolling Stone and elsewhere; a brief marriage to Martin Scorsese; and a screenwriting career. After she got sober (44 years ago), her writing changed: “I began to try to be useful. A lot of what happened to me with The Artist’s Way was an impulse to teach something that I had learned through experience.” Now 73, Cameron lives outside Santa Fe, where New Yorker staff writer Rachel Syme visits to talk with her about her life and creativity. When asked why The Artist’s Way seems to have found yet more traction during the pandemic, Cameron notes: “I think that, for many people, the pandemic was a sort of spiritual crisis. We were thrown back on ourselves, and we needed to have a sense of guidance. And I think we needed a sense of exploration.”
Ready for those close-ups
New Mexico’s natural beauty sometimes makes it hard to take a bad photo, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to shoot a stunning one. New Mexico Magazine’s 21st annual photography contest winners vividly capture both natural and urban environments. To capture his shot “Bolts Above Albuquerque,” Aaron Blanc spent more than three hours chasing a storm on Sandia Mountain Crest (he won first place in the contest’s nightscape category.) Another stunner comes from Igal Brener, who photographed petroglyphs by Jornada Mogollon at the Three Rivers Petroglyph Site during the Geminid meteor shower. You can view and/or purchase the winning photographs in person at the Tularosa Basin Gallery of Photography in Carrizozo starting Jan. 28, and see all the winning photos online here. And, thus inspired, you’ll still have time to enter SFR’s annual photography competition, open through Feb. 1. Our winning entries will be both published in the paper and receive prizes! Grab the details here.
Let there be snow
Today, like yesterday, should be mostly sunny with a high near 47 degrees and east wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon. Tonight, however, we have a slight chance of rain before 8 pm and an overall 70% chance for a teensy bit of snow overnight, heading into a 20% chance for snow Wednesday morning. Here’s hoping!
Thanks for reading! The Word enjoys satire and grammar as much as the next existentially nauseated scribe, but “New Irregular Verb Conjugation” from McSweeney’s hits a little close to home.
