COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 1,702 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 126,045. Of those, the health department has designated 50,784 as recovered. Bernalillo County led with 537 new cases, followed by Sandoval County with 155 and 140 in Doña Ana County. Santa Fe County had 56 new cases.
The state also announced 48 new deaths, a new record for fatalities in a single day, including four from Santa Fe County: a female in her 70s who was hospitalized; a male in his 50s who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions; a male in his 70s who was hospitalized; and a male in his 90s who had underlying conditions. As of yesterday, 852 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.
Biden names Haaland for Interior
President-elect Joe Biden chose US Rep. Deb Haaland, D-NM, as his pick for interior secretary yesterday, which will make Haaland, if confirmed, the first Native American cabinet secretary and pave the way for a special election to replace her in New Mexico's 1st Congressional District. Acclamations for the choice cascaded in from a variety of local and state leaders, including Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, US Rep. Ben Ray Luján and US Sen. Martin Heinrich. Outgoing US Sen. Tom Udall, D-NM, who had been another rumored frontrunner for the position, congratulated Haaland, whom he described as a friend, noting that "I know it will be significant and meaningful for Native Americans, especially Native women, to see Secretary Haaland, a member of the Pueblo of Laguna, leading the department that is tasked with meeting many of our responsibilities to Tribes and managing inherently Indigenous land."
New Mexico Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo echoed the thought in a statement saying: "Young Native women and girls have a new role model today as we see a strong, Indigenous woman take on this responsibility." In social media posts, Haaland said she was ready to serve: "A voice like mine has never been a Cabinet secretary or at the head of the Department of Interior. Growing up in my mother's Pueblo household made me fierce. I'll be fierce for all of us, our planet, and all of our protected land." Haaland can keep her seat representing the 1st Congressional District until she is confirmed; New Mexico will then hold a special election for candidates chosen by the state's major parties to replace her.
NM expects more vaccines next week
Following this week's distribution of 17,550 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, New Mexico officials said yesterday they anticipate receiving a second shipment of unknown quantity next week. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, during her weekly COVID-19 briefing, described the logistics of vaccine distribution as a "nightmare," and said the state had not learned of specific quantities or dates. However, Health Secretary-designate Dr. Tracie Collins said she was in the process of creating a public dashboard that would ultimately track the state's vaccine inventory and dispensation. Pending approval from the Food and Drug Administration, the state also expects to receive shipments of the Moderna vaccine. Officials also expressed concern yesterday that the upcoming holiday season may bring a surge of cases come January. After all, as Lujan Grisham noted: "You can't wear a mask and eat a biscochito." With that in mind, she urged New Mexicans to celebrate a Zoom Christmas and hold out for more normal celebrations next year when COVID-19 vaccines will have hopefully penetrated enough of the population to allow for a return to some degree of normalcy. "We just need to hang on," Collins said. "We are not out of the woods."
AG joins Google, Facebook lawsuits
Attorney General Hector Balderas yesterday joined 38 other attorneys general in suing Google for anticompetitive conduct in violation of federal law. According to a news release, the states allege Google illegally maintains an unfair monopoly power over general search engines and related advertising markets, thus depriving consumers of competition. "For decades, big tech has enriched itself at the expense of innovation, small businesses and the privacy and economic security of New Mexican families," Attorney General Balderas said in a statement. "My office will fight on behalf of New Mexican consumers and families and hold these companies accountable to ensure competitiveness in the 21st century marketplace." This is the third such anti-trust litigation to hit Google in the last several months. The Federal Trade Commission and 48 states and districts also sued Facebook last week alleging anti-competitive behavior. New Mexico is part of that lawsuit as well.
Listen up
The Santa Fe holiday spirit kicks into high gear tonight at 6 pm with the Support Santa Fe virtual concert (you can catch a preview of that here) streaming from the much-missed stage at Tumbleroot. The show will feature musicians Felix Peralta (of Felix y Los Gatos); Jono Manson; David Berkeley; and Nosotros, with a virtual tip jar. The show is part of a larger initiative to encourage shopping locally for the holiday season, and the Support Santa Fe site includes local businesses across the spectrum from Critters & Me to Renegade Floral to the Running Hub and many, many more. You can watch the show on the site while you start (finish?) your holiday shopping.
Holiday drama
Teatro Paraguas annual holiday show airs tonight. A Musical Piñata for Christmas VIII features a short play by Alix Hudson and Paola Vengoechea Martini, "Home for the Holidays: Con Amor y Gozo," described by the company as a Spanglish romp in which 20 actors play a family trying to cobble together a "normal" Christmas for the matriarch and discovering "Christmas preparations on Zoom don't prove easy in the midst of the pandemic." If you miss tonight's 7 pm show (followed by a virtual gathering), fret not. Teatro Paraguas has teamed up with Xerb, a local alternative to Netflix and Hulu, and you will soon be able to find much of its theater content online. "With the productions we're putting on [through Zoom] right now, we've been recording them so we can put them up on Xerb," Paraguas board member Paola Vengoechea Martini tells SFR. "We also have archival footage and a few other pieces from the past. We want to have content that's accessible to all, and the reach has certainly expanded beyond the greater Santa Fe area."
Season’s greetings
New Mexico students created nearly 90 video greetings, in both English and Spanish, as part of a joint project between the state education department and Hobbs High School to share with people isolated during the pandemic in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. According to a news release, Hobbs English teachers Alex Salazar, Brooke Richardson and Kristopher Otto came up with the idea as a service project for their students and invited teachers throughout the state to participate. "During a time that's been so hard on students and so hard on teachers, it warms my heart to see them singing, happy and smiling," Otto said. We only just learned of this project, but it's not quite too late to participate (today is the deadline) and you can find details here.
Whichever way the wind blows
Today, again, look for a mostly sunny day with a high near 42 degrees and west wind 5 to 15 mph. The weekend looks just about the same, except the wind will be of the northern variety.
Thanks for reading! The Word continues her serious research project for winter drinks and may have to check out the "campfire cider" recipe from Outside Magazine's story on the topic (although we thinks "winter drinks" sounds more appetizing than "hot cocktails" FWIW).
