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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 160 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 201,489. The health department has designated 186,901 of those cases as recovered. Bernalillo County had 53 cases, followed by Santa Fe County with 16 and San Juan and Doña Ana counties with 12.
The state also announced four additional deaths, including the 146th from Santa Fe County: a man in his 70s who had been hospitalized. There have now been 4,122 fatalities. As of yesterday, 156 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
Currently, 63.4% of New Mexicans have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 52.9% are fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 72.2% have had at least one dose and 60.6% have been fully vaccinated.
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.
COVID-19 map now shows 32 turquoise counties
As of yesterday, 32 New Mexico counties can operate at the turquoise, or least restrictive, level of the state’s red-to-green county framework and one, Chaves County, at green. No counties are at the yellow or red levels. Under new metrics implemented April 30, counties must have 10 or fewer cases per 100,000 populations measured over a 14-day period, along with a test positivity rate of 7.5% or less. A third metric, vaccination rates, required a 40% full vaccination rate for yesterday’s evaluation, and will increase every two weeks by 5%. Counties that fail to meet any criteria classify as red; one metric equals yellow; two out of three qualifies for green and, in theory, counties must satisfy all the metrics to be considered turquoise. However, only three counties were re-evaluated in yesterday’s update, as the state now assesses turquoise counties every four weeks, rather than every other week. Moreover, some turquoise counties would be red or yellow under the previous system, or might regress when re-evaluated June 2, according to Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase, who showed a comparison map during a COVID-19 update yesterday with Health Secretary Dr. Tracie Collins and Education Secretary Dr. Ryan Stewart. The update also included a report on COVID-19 cases in schools, which Stewart says are declining. “Even in those instances where COVID has shown up at the school, we have the right systems in place to keep it from spreading to others,” Stewart said.
SFPS faces budget cuts
The Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education made more than $3 million in cuts during its meeting last night as a result of declining enrollment. The total operating budget is now approximately $259 million. Without federal aid, the cuts would have been worse—nearly $4 million more—according to Superintendent Veronica García. The budget includes 1.5% salary increases for employees. The current budget assumes enrollment will increase next year: This year, the district lost about 600 students, with elementary students accounting for 68% of the decrease. The pandemic may not be the sole cause; according to the district’s deputy equity officer, Crystal Ybarra, many families left the district for others in the state. “I think economics played a big role,” she said. The consequence? The district will need to be careful with its finances, Board President Kate Noble said.
Return of the big screen
In another sign of a return to pre-pandemic life, Regal Cinemas will begin showing movies again this Friday in five locations in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. In accordance with the state’s public health law, theaters will be limited to 33% capacity. Regal will require masks in the lobby and auditoriums, except when people are eating while seated in an auditorium. Regal has been closed since March 2020 when the first shutdowns began. The company opened some theaters in other states last July, then closed them again in October before starting to open up again in April. In Santa Fe, both Regal 6 at Santa Fe Place and Regal 14 at the San Isidro Plaza have movies listed for Friday. At the latter location, Jeff Branch, CEO of Columbus Capital, which owns the San Isidro Plaza, says he’s still negotiating with Regal for back rent. Santa Fe’s other large movie theater, Violet Crown, reopened May 7.
Listen up
AMP Concerts continues its virtual third Thursday event series at the Albuquerque Museum tonight, with a mix of talks and music kicking off at 6 pm. Albuquerque Poet Laureate Mary Oishi begins the show, followed by a live-stream yoga flow with a YogaZo instructor at 6:30 pm. The music begins at 7 pm with a performance by New Mexican string band Lone Piñon, in a performance filmed at Casa San Ysidro: The Gutiérrez-Minge House, a historic home and property in Corrales. Watch live on YouTube or Facebook.
Looking back
Local history buffs will want to tune in to Historic Santa Fe Foundation Salon El Zaguán via Zoom at 3 pm today, featuring National Park Service architect Charles Vickrey and historical preservationist Flynn Larson. The speakers will explicate the history and rehabilitation of the National Park Service’s Old Santa Fe Trail Building—a hidden landmark built by the Conservation Corps nearly a century ago. As explained by Historic Santa Fe, the building was constructed with 280,000 adobe bricks, and adapts local building tradition to the Spanish Pueblo Revival style. Among other topics, the talk will explore the building’s original purposes, architectural functions and design ($10 for non-members, free for members). The event is one of several highlighted in this week’s SFR Picks if you’re ready to start planning your weekend.
NM’s biz stars
Forbes Next 1,000, a year-long showcase of the country’s top entrepreneurs, businesses and start-ups, included some New Mexicans in its roll-out of the first 250 faces behind enterprises with “under $10 million in revenue or funding and infinite drive and hustle.” They include 35-year-old Emma Rose Cohen, listed as a Santa Fe resident, founder and CEO of Final, which created FinalStraw, described as “the world’s first reusable, collapsible straw” (an undertaking that raised nearly $2 million on Kickstarter in 2018.) In 2020, the company launched FinalFork and FinalSpork. Zia Hatch Chile Company founder Nathaniel Cotanch also makes the list—he started his company in 2014 after he moved to the East Coast but missed his home state’s flavors. “We know that, for those who have moved away from the Land of Enchantment, a lack of Hatch green chile can feel like so much more than missing your favorite food and can instead feel like you’ve lost a part of your culture and traditions,” Cotanch tells the Las Cruces Bulletin. “As a result, we’re working to alleviate that Hatch green chile drought.”
Go high
Forecasters say today will be mostly sunny and clear in Santa Fe, with a high climbing to 78 with east winds of 5 to 10 mph becoming southwest and 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Rain looks likely to return Friday night and into the weekend.
Thanks for reading! At some point this afternoon, The Word will be testing out the theories explained in this five-minute video on how to take the perfect nap.
