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Morning Word
COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 713 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 216,494. DOH has designated 197,868 of those cases as recovered. Bernalillo County had 175 new cases, followed by Lea County with 80 new cases and Eddy County with 67. Santa Fe County had 18 new cases.
The state also announced seven additional deaths, four recent and three from more than 30 days ago. There have now been 4,437 fatalities. As of yesterday, 258 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Currently, among adult New Mexicans 18 years and older, 74.3% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 65.6% are fully vaccinated. Among those between the ages of 12 and 17, 52.8% have had at least one dose and 41.1% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 18 years and older, 86.1% are partially vaccinated and 76.2% are fully inoculated.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
NM officials say state’s COVID-19 cases will continue to rise
New Mexico health officials yesterday provided a grim update on COVID-19, focused on the threat of the fast-spreading Delta variant. Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase, also the state’s Human Services Secretary, along with state Epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross, shared a wealth of data and studies, the vast majority of which Scrase characterized as “alarming.” To start, New Mexico’s cases have risen ten-fold since July, as have cases nationwide. “We’re seeing a really rapid rise,” Ross said. “Trends have been going absolutely in the wrong direction, mostly fueled by this highly contagious Delta variant.” Cases are likely to continue increasing, with worst-case scenarios from the Los Alamos National Laboratory model forecasting 900 to 1,500 cases daily by the end of the month. The vast majority of new cases remain among unvaccinated people, and hospital leaders earlier this week warned of rising patient loads at their already full facilities.
But Scrase also shared emerging data that fully vaccinated people can become infected, albeit rarely, and can infect others. “When I got vaccinated, it was to prevent me needing hospitalization, me dying, me spreading the infection to other people,” Scrase said. “For the most part, those two good reasons of avoiding hospitalization and death still clearly stand. Vaccination prevents those, even with Delta, based on this one study.” But the ability for fully vaccinated people to spread the virus, he said, “is a major game changer when it comes to mask recommendation.” In line with the CDC, DOH is recommending fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors if they reside in counties with substantial or high risk, which is the case for most of New Mexico’s counties.
SFPD investigates monument vandalism
The Santa Fe Police Department yesterday released photos of seven unknown people dressed in black, wearing white masks, who left cloth banners around the protective fence around the spot of the former Plaza obelisk. According to SFPD, that incident is likely related to the vandalism that occurred at some point earlier this week at the monument at the Cross of the Martyrs Park, which involved spray paint and a cloth banner. At least one banner read “1680,” in reference to the Pueblo Revolt on Aug. 10, 1680, an event some say has become a touchstone for contemporary Indigenous activism. In a statement on the incidents—the Kit Carson monument near the federal courthouse also was vandalized—Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber acknowledged the importance of the Pueblo Revolt, but characterized the perpetrators of the recent acts as “cowards and vandals.” Webber, whose first term has been largely dogged by criticisms surrounding the destruction of the Plaza obelisk last October, urged unity in the community: “With what’s going on across America today and what’s happening here in Santa Fe, we have a choice,” he said. “Will we go down the path of division, anger and disrespect? Or will we summon ‘our better angels’ as we have in the past and embrace our shared history, shared culture and shared values?”
State takeover of private prisons progresses
New Mexico will have reduced its reliance on private prison operators to less than 25% once it finishes taking over operations at the Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Grants and the Guadalupe County Correctional Facility at Santa Rosa. Corrections Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero updated legislators on the interim Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee yesterday on the state’s negotiations with CoreCivic and GEO Group, which respectively currently run the institutions, saying she expects them to be complete by November and result in higher salaries for entry-level corrections officers. The shift comes amid a variety of local and national conditions: in January, President Joe Biden issued an executive order directing the Justice Department to not renew contracts with private prison operators; New Mexico’s own prison population has been declining—by 14% just since the start of the pandemic; and lawmakers have been urging the state to allow private prison contracts to expire and to not enter new contracts. State Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Albuquerque, said it was “encouraging” to hear that the state is working on reclaiming the facilities. “This gives hope,” she said.
Listen up
A visitor recently asked, mid-hike, whether New Mexico has rattlesnakes. The answer is yes, although fortunately none were spotted during said hike. Not so for New Mexico author Kyle Dickman, a former Outside magazine editor, who was bitten by one in a remote section of Yosemite National Park during a trip with his wife and infant son. Dickman tells the harrowing story in an Outside’s podcast titled: “The Rattlesnake Bite That Changed Everything.”
Stranger Things starts filming in NM
Season four of Netflix’ Stranger Things has begun filming in New Mexico, the state Film Office announced yesterday, and will employ approximately 325 New Mexico crew members, 70 New Mexico principal cast members and 700 New Mexico background and extras. “We first broke the news that Stranger Things would be filming its fourth season in New Mexico at the Deadline Hollywood HotSpots Conference in March 2020,” New Mexico Economic Development Department Cabinet Secretary Alicia J. Keyes said in a statement. “Not only are we excited to see New Mexico locations and talent on full display in this series, but we are interested in the film tourism that could potentially follow as well.” Film Office Director Amber Dodson also chimed in enthusiastically, noting that the “New Mexican upside-down fan base cannot wait to catch glimpses of the Land of Enchantment” when the next season is released in 2022. ICYMI the first three seasons, Stranger Things, created by The Duffer Brothers, pays homage to ‘80s genre films and involves the mysteries unleashed in a midwestern town after a boy goes missing. And, yes, Winona Ryder will return for season four.
Greening museums
The Museum of International Folk Art, New Mexico Museum of Art and the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum were among 79 art museums in the US to receive grants from the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation as part of the Frankenthaler Climate Initiative. “The Frankenthaler Climate Initiative was conceived to move art museums toward net zero, and to set an example for all institutions and citizens to follow suit,” Fred Iseman, president of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, said in a statement. “We wanted to help US art institutions join the climate fray. There is a void to be filled: a crying need to provide technical know-how and financial support to art institutions to scope their needs, define problems, and implement solutions.” According to a news release, MOA will use its award to fund the installation of a solar photovoltaic system at the new Vladem Contemporary, set to open in the Santa Fe Railyard District in 2022, and anticipates doing so will “reduce the Museum’s power bill by an estimated $4,500 per year, lower the Museum’s carbon footprint and positively impact its economic viability.” MOIFA plans to use the funds to redesign the museum’s atrium roof, and anticipates savings of up to $2,500 a year in energy costs. The O’Keeffe plans to add solar panels “so that the same bright sky that inspired the modern abstractionist can power her museum,” the Washington Post writes.
Rain returns
Today holds a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms after noon, according to the National Weather Service, and some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Otherwise, it will be partly sunny with a high near 83 degrees and north wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading! The Word is spending extra time in the Zen den this week.
