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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 92 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 203,222. The health department has designated 189,877 of those cases as recovered. Having fewer than 100 cases a day has “been a long time coming,” Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said yesterday during a COVID-19 briefing. The state also is hitting all of its COVID-19 gating criteria.
Bernalillo County had 27 new cases, followed by 13 in San Juan County and eight in Lea County. Santa Fe County had four new cases.
The state also announced four additional deaths, including a male in his 20s from McKinley County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. There have now been 4,268 total fatalities. As of yesterday, 103 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here. If you’ve had experiences with COVID-19, we would like to hear from you.
All NM counties turquoise, regardless of metrics
A new public health law put into effect yesterday allows all 33 of New Mexico counties to operate at the least restrictive COVID-19 level: turquoise. The decision comes from the governor’s office amid declining COVID-19 cases and rising vaccination rates. A news release says that “barring exceptional circumstances…such as an unforeseen mass outbreak,” counties will remain turquoise for the duration of the state’s use of the color-coded county-by-county system. The state intends to end the county-level system along with most business restrictions once 60% of the state has been fully vaccinated (currently the percentage of fully vaccinated residents 16 years and older stands at 55.8%). Without yesterday’s shift, 28 counties would have been operating at the turquoise level and five—De Baca, Guadalupe, Harding, Roosevelt and Torrance counties—would have regressed to yellow.
Under the system, counties have been measured against a metric of 10 or fewer cases per 100,000 population over a 14-day period; test positivity rates of 7.5% or less; and vaccination rates set at 40% on May 4 and slated to rise by 5% every two weeks. During a COVID-19 news conference yesterday, Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said those data points will continue to be monitored despite shifting all counties to the turquoise level. Santa Fe County currently has a case rate of six, with a 2.62% test positivity rate and 64.1% of residents are fully vaccinated. Health officials in a news conference yesterday said the state remains on track to meet its 60% goal and deliver a back-to-normal summer to most residents. The picture may differ for unvaccinated New Mexicans, Scrase said, who remain at increased risk for contracting the disease, he said, in part due to the variants’ elevated transmissibility.
Gov poised to announce re-election campaign
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham appears likely to announce her bid for a second term this evening, though she first declared her candidacy in December. A media advisory from the governor’s 2022 campaign, sent yesterday, announced a “special event” at 6 pm this evening at the Albuquerque Museum amphitheater, featuring supporters, volunteers, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and others. While the source of the advisory would seem to leave the event’s purpose fairly unambiguous, the Santa Fe New Mexican said the lack of specificity led unknown people to speculate about its purpose. Fortunately, Morales put the alleged speculation to rest after neither the governor’s campaign nor museum staff returned phone calls, explaining that it’s now “basically campaign season...From the understanding that I got, that’s going to be the announcement that will be made, but she’s already made it clear that she’s running for reelection in her press conferences,” said Morales, who also plans to run for re-election.
Santa Fe Opera previews season, tickets open June 10
In a news conference yesterday, Santa Fe Opera General Director Robert K. Meya confirmed the opera had received approval from state officials to increase capacity, and will open ticket sales June 10. The season features four fully-staged new productions: The Marriage of Figaro, The Lord of Cries, Eugene Onegin and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. While the increased capacity will allow the opera to add 1,000 seats for every performance in every section of the theater, safety protocols this summer will include masks at all times and maximum group sizes limited to six people. Notable changes this year include simulcasts of every performance on 300 square-foot, state-of-the-art LED walls in the opera’s scenic lower parking lot; those tickets also go on sale June 10 and range in price from $100 to $125 per vehicle. The opera also plans numerous virtual events throughout the season, and will be providing an array of special ticketing discounts for students, seniors, active military and New Mexico residents. First-time ticket buyers from New Mexico can receive 40% off a pair of tickets. Chief Artistic Officer David Lomelí, who began with the opera in May, also attended the news conference, which streamed live from the opera grounds, and said the industry is experiencing a “generational shift,” and “The Santa Fe Opera will be a multicultural, multicolor family of artists and supporters.” The opera also detailed its COVID-safety protocols, which include increased cleaning; electrostatic disinfection of high-traffic areas; enhanced ventilation and air purification in elevators and restrooms; digital tickets; and new touch-free fixtures in all restrooms. Read more about this summer’s season, casting and additional events here.
Listen up
Any day is a good day to discuss climate change, but KUNM’s Let’s Talk New Mexico provides an immediate opportunity at 8 am today with a call-in show focused on its impact in New Mexico. Guests include Phoebe Suina from Cochiti and San Felipe Pueblos, hydrologist and owner of High Water Mark; hydrologist Dagmar Llewellyn from the US Bureau of Reclamation’s Water Management Division; and Laura Paskus, environment reporter for New Mexico PBS and author of At The Precipice: New Mexico’s Changing Climate. What are your thoughts on preserving the state’s struggling rivers? Make them known by emailing letstalk@kunm.org or calling in live to 505-277-5866 during the show (online or 89.9 FM).
Our neck of the woods
Chances are, you own one and possibly multiple versions of Day Hikes in the Santa Fe Area (we have at least the fourth and seventh editions, ourselves). Now, the Northern New Mexico Group, part of the Rio Grande chapter of the Sierra Club, is preparing its ninth version. “I’ve found, to my amazement, there are so many changes in what seems like a very stable Northern New Mexico hiking landscape that you really do need to review it every four or five years,” the guide book’s volunteer project manager, Aku Oppenheimer, tells SFR. The group hatched the first edition 40 years ago both to document Northern New Mexico’s rich network of trails and raise money for the conservation group. “When we did this, we had no idea how successful it would be,” Ann Young, who spearheaded that first edition in 1981 with fellow volunteer Ingrid Vollnhofer, says. “Honest to goodness, we scraped and scrounged and got the first edition out, and it sold like hotcakes.” Historically, scores of volunteers have helped with the project; send an email if you’d like to help with the new edition.
All eyes on Haaland
The New York Times considers the “promise and pressures” Deb Haaland’s appointment as US Interior Secretary presents, spending time in Paraje with six members of the Laguna Pueblo as they discuss “Sister Deb,” also a Laguna citizen and former congresswoman for the state’s 1st Congressional District. “I’m so excited about her,” Rachael Lorenzo says. Lorenzo identifies as nonbinary and sees Haaland as someone who will advocate for female, queer and transgender tribal citizens. “But it’s a little heartbreaking to hang all our hopes on one person,” she notes. Others hope Haaland will help provide protection for the land, better cooperation between federal and tribal governments and mobilize Native voters. The pressure part of the “promise and pressure” equation stems from Haaland’s role as the first Native American to lead a cabinet department, and one that historically represents betrayal of Native interests. “Our ancestors have long foretold of a day of reckoning, when our values and the values of those who came to this country would collide. We’re at that day of reckoning,” Fawn R. Sharp, the president of the National Congress of American Indians, tells the Times. “Deb will not only do the work to respond to and serve this generation, but her leadership is going to have a ripple effect for generations to come.”
The heat is on
Today, Santa Fe’s chances for rain dwindle and the heat rises: A 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 pm on an otherwise sunny day, with a high temperature near 80 degrees and east wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the morning.
Thanks for reading! The Word rarely geeks out over infrastructure, except, apparently, when those bridges, tunnels and the like involve wildlife crossings.
