COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 826 new COVID-19 cases—the lowest daily number of new cases reported since Nov. 5—bringing the statewide total so far to 130,808. Of those, the health department has designated 55,803 as recovered. Bernalillo County had 293 new cases, followed by San Juan County with 96 and Doña Ana County with 72. Santa Fe County had 43 new cases.
The state also announced nine additional deaths; there have now been 2,180 fatalities. As of yesterday, 796 people were hospitalized with COVID-19.
The latest cases and fatalities arrived as the state received its second shipment of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine—12,675 doses—at Presbyterian Healthcare, University of New Mexico Health and the state health department warehouse. In total, 22 hospitals, including Christus, will receive shipments from the DOH warehouse today. Initial shipments of the Moderna vaccine—which received emergency authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Friday— began arriving yesterday, with 31,600 doses anticipated and slated for use on staff and residents at long-term care facilities and nursing homes.
And if you live on the Southside, where the 87507 ZIP code has had higher COVID-19 numbers throughout the pandemic, you may have received unexplained bag of COVID safety gifts in the last week. The delivery was part of the City of Santa Fe's pandemic safety effort and it was not cheap, nor was the process to assemble and distribute it smooth.
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.
NM vaccination app on its way
New Mexico's new Health Secretary-designate Dr. Tracie C. Collins says a new app will be released shortly—possibly this week—that will allow New Mexico residents to register and then be alerted when they are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. Yesterday, SFR spoke with Collins, who has been on the job a week, about the behind-the-scene efforts for vaccine distribution, the lessons learned so far in the pandemic and her hopes for a successful public education campaign around vaccination. "Communities of color may have issues around distrust, or likely do," Collins says. "So, the idea is for us to make sure our messaging really captures the needs of diverse communities and helps them understand the value of this vaccine." Collins and Human Services Secretary David Scrase will give a data-driven presentation on COVID-19 today at 3 pm, which will livestream on the New Mexico Human Services Department's Facebook page.
Former SFPD cop sues city
Former Santa Fe Police Department officer Michele Williams, who retired last spring after rising to the highest ranking female officer on the force, filed suit against the City of Santa Fe last Friday, alleging retaliation for whistleblowing. The lawsuit claims that after Williams complained about suspected timecard fraud by a commanding officer, SFPD reassigned her to a previously non-existent desk job. Later, when Williams suspected problems in accounting for weapons collected in a gun-violence-prevention program, SFPD launched an investigation against her, according to documents submitted with the suit. In the court filing, attorney Thomas Grover argues the City of Santa Fe and Mayor Alan Webber violated the state's Whistleblower Protection Act by retaliating against Williams and, moreover, claims Webber "was overheard at a city event stating that SFPD needed to 'deal with Williams' or words to that effect" and that the statement was "meant to render an adverse action upon Ms. Williams or otherwise discharge her from her position with SFPD." Williams tells SFR she's unsure if the city targeted her for personal reasons or because she raised alarms: "It's part of a larger cultural issue in law enforcement in Santa Fe and in New Mexico…and nationally, that law enforcement is not open to cultural readjusting of the ways in which they are deficient," she says.
Congressional hopefuls line up
US Rep. Deb Haaland, D-NM, can hold onto her 1st Congressional District seat until the US Senate confirms her appointment as Interior Secretary. But the race to replace her has begun. Yesterday, Albuquerque state Rep. Melanie Stansbury and state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez both announced their candidacies, while Rep. Georgene Louis, also of Albuquerque and an enrolled member of Acoma Pueblo, says she's considering running. Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, however, announced she won't be running. On the Republican side, Michelle Garcia Holmes, who ran against Haaland in the November general election and lost by 16%, has said she plans to run for the seat, as has Republican Eddy Aragon. The state's major parties' central committees will decide in private meetings who their candidates will be for this particular election but, going forward, state Rep. Daymon Ely, D-Corrales, hopes to replace the insider process with a ranked choice option that allows for electoral participation.
Listen up
From the performer who brought you Halloween—and many other unforgettable theatrical events—Santa Fe songwriter Joe West, along with some of his musical friends, will host an evening of "down home country Christmas cheer" at 7 pm, Wednesday, Dec. 23. AMP Concert's Joe West Christmas special will include performances by long time Johnny Cash pianist Earl Poole Ball; Margaret Burke; Karina Wilson; Timbo Arnold; Arne Bey; Bill Hearn; Freddy Lopez; Felicia Ford; Entreflamenco; Rod Harrison; Char Rothschild; Lori Kathleen Ottino; Les Malzman; Elizabeth Scarinzi; Sharon Gilchrist; Laurianne Fiorentino & Michael Kott; Duke City Hora; and Jordan Wax & Margot Leverett. The event is free (donations welcome) and will livestream from the AMP Concerts Facebook Page and YouTube channel.
Smart cookies
As Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham recently noted, you can't wear a mask while you're eating a biscochito. The governor's point was in service of promoting social distancing and avoiding a post-holiday surge of COVID-19 cases. Yes and yes. But also: eat biscochitos. Or maybe make your own? For the skinny on cookies, John Vollertsen, aka Chef Johnny Vee, talks to cookie masters Kristin Dowling and Mike Silva, owners of Albuquerque's Rude Boy Cookies, in this month's New Mexico Magazine. Baker Dowling has biscochito cred (that's a thing): She appeared on the Food Network's "Christmas Cookie Challenge" in 2017, and took home the grand prize by introducing the judges to the biscochito "and then creating a festive edible gift box out of cayenne-orange gingerbread dough with pajama-top cookies tucked inside." The story offers not just baking tips, but recipes for biscochito bites and Red Velvet White Chocolate Chip Cookies. And to all a good night.
Farolito cruise
If you're never sure quite what to do upon encountering groups of carolers singing around bonfires on Christmas Eve (Join them? Run? Employ Machine Learning?), the COVID-19 solution to the Canyon Road farolito walk may suit you. Rather than cancel the popular (and beautiful) event, this year's farolito walk has been cruisified, with no "pedestrian traffic" (walking vectors) allowed. According to a news release from the City of Santa Fe, all vehicles will enter Canyon Road from Paseo de Peralta, cruise up the historic lane and exit onto Canyon Road/Camino Cabra. Side streets intersecting Canyon Road will be blocked. Cruise traffic starts at 5:15 pm and ends at 8:30 pm. Residents should expect delays (ya think?). Leave the flasks at home.
Have yourself a sunny little Christmas
Today will be sunny with a high near 50 degrees, aka T-shirt weather again. No sign of snow for Christmas or the foreseeable future. Rather, look for sunny skies and highs in the high 40s for the rest of the week, except for a slightly chillier Christmas Eve day, when the high will be in the high 30s.
Thanks for reading! The Word returns Dec. 30 just in time to say sayonara to 2020. In the meantime, next year she hopes to talk SFR into producing a video like ACLU's seasonal greeting, in which staffers read their favorite comments from the year (and we thought our mail was crazy).