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COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 1,412 new COVID-19 cases, a 22% decrease from cases one week prior (although Tuesdays’ case counts always appear to be somewhat lower than the rest of the week’s). The new cases bring the statewide total so far to 495,769; DOH has designated 364,098 of those cases as recovered. The statewide test positivity rate on a seven-day rolling average declined slightly from 20.7% to 20.4% (the target is 7.5%). Health officials have said the state has passed the peak of its Omicron surge, reflected graphically in the most recent case curve, depicted on the first page of this week’s report on case trends across the state.
Bernalillo County had 324 cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 307 and San Juan County with 102. Santa Fe County had 51 new cases.
As of press time, DOH had not updated its weekly report on vaccine breakthrough cases; a DOH spokeswoman told SFR it will be updated some time this morning. Last week’s vaccination report said over the four-week period between Jan. 3 and Jan. 31, 55.5% of COVID-19 cases were among those who had not completed their primary vaccination series, as were 77.4% of hospitalizations and 92.8% of deaths.
The state also reported six additional deaths, five of them recent; there have been 6,561 fatalities statewide. As of yesterday, 593 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, 28 more than the day before. The state’s most recent report on hospitalizations shows an overall decline with 370 COVID-19 hospital admissions over a seven-day period, compared with 430 the week before.
Currently, 91.4% percent of adults 18 years and older have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 77.5% have completed their primary series. Among the same demographic, 42.7% have had a booster shot. In the 12-17-year-old age group, 70.5% of people have had at least one dose and 60% have completed their primary series. Among children ages 5-11, 36.7% have had at least one dose of the Pfizer vaccine and 26% have completed their primary series. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 and older have had at least one dose and 86.5% have completed their primary series.
Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase will hold a COVID-19 weekly news update at 1 pm today, which will stream live on the New Mexico Department of Health Facebook page, and with a Spanish language interpreter on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s YouTube page.
New Mexicans can register for a COVID-19 vaccine here, schedule a COVID-19 vaccine booster here and view a public calendar for vaccine availability here. Parents can add dependents to their vaccine profiles here. You can read the guidelines for quarantine and isolation here.
You can order free at-home COVID-19 tests here and find other testing options at findatestnm.org. New Mexicans living in ZIP codes disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 may be eligible for five free tests through Accesscovidtest.org. The health department is offering drive-through PCR testing through Feb. 21; to find an appointment (recommended only for people with symptoms), register here.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
NM faces summer blackouts
Electricity shortages during peak months will lead PNM customers to experience blackouts this summer, and maybe next summer, pending the Public Regulation Commission and the utility company’s wherewithal to come up with some emergency solutions. The PRC is scheduled to discuss the problem at its open meeting at 9:30 am today (the link to view the meeting will be posted here just before the meeting start time), with the Albuquerque Journal reporting PNM has proposed—and some commissioners agree—extending operations at the coal-fired San Juan Generating Station past its scheduled June shutdown could help the situation this summer. But then there’s next summer. The problem, according to PNM and Attorney General Hector Balderas, stems from the PRC not yet approving replacement sources for the energy it receives from the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona, where its leases are expiring; and from the PRC not creating a reliable backup plan for the grid as the state transitions from fossil fuels to renewable power. PRC commissioners say PNM also shoulders some responsibility for not submitting its proposals in a timely fashion for review. For good measure, COVID-19 and supply chain issues also are contributing to the “pending crisis.” Commissioner Stephen Fischmann tells the Journal that rather than casting blame, “we need to stay focused on solving the problem for customers.”
Nearly 1,000 people apply for substitute teacher spots
Since Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued a call for National Guard and state employees to volunteer as substitute teachers in public schools, close to 1,000 people have applied to do so, the Public Education Department announced yesterday. According to a news release, PED has received 988 substitute teacher license applications and issued 473 new licenses since Jan. 19 when the governor announced the Supporting Teachers and Families initiative (ICYMI, Jimmy Fallon joked about the governor’s own turn as a sub). “When word got out about the tremendous need for substitute teachers to keep schools open for in-person learning, New Mexicans stepped up in droves,” Education Secretary Kurt Steinhaus said in a statement. “We are so proud of our state and so grateful for this support.” Steinhaus had previously said the state needed 1,000 substitute teachers. Of those licenses issued, 207 went to state employees and National Guard members in the last 20 days and 266 to other New Mexicans who also applied and who will be paid as substitute teachers. Hundreds more are being processed. Anyone with a high school diploma can apply; learn more here.
State Senate passes “Second Chance” bill for juvenile offenders
The state Senate yesterday passed Senate Bill 43, the so-called Second Chance bill, which would prohibit life sentences without parole for juveniles convicted of first-degree murder. Currently, a juvenile offender convicted of first-degree murder is subject to the same possible penalties as an adult. The bill also creates parole procedures. A fiscal analysis of the bill notes that 24 states and the District of Columbia have banned life sentences without the possibility of parole for juveniles and, in a handful of other states, no one is currently serving such a sentence. “This bill therefore will align New Mexico with juvenile justice reform efforts throughout the country by acknowledging that children are different from adults in ways that are critical to identifying appropriate criminal sentences,” the report reads. In addition, the US Supreme Court found it unconstitutional in 2012 to sentence a child to life without parole, except in the rarest of cases, and both the US and New Mexico Supreme Courts have both recognized that “children are constitutionally different from adults for purposes of sentencing.” In a statement, bill co-sponsor state Sen. Antoinette Sedillo Lopez, D-Albuquerque, noted: “Children are more than the worst thing they’ve ever done, and we need laws that reflect that.” The bill passed 23-15 along partisan lines, with Republican lawmakers opposed; it now heads to the House.
Listen up
The New Mexico Legislature celebrates Behavioral Health Day from 9 to 11:30 am today in a virtual program honoring 21 New Mexicans for their contributions to championing behavioral health in their communities. “The individuals and programs being recognized this year provide a critical need to their respective communities,” Neal Bowen, the state’s Behavioral Health Services Division director, said in a statement. “We are thankful for their service and dedication in making a difference. They truly are behavioral health stars.” Bowen, along with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase and others, will participate in today’s program, which can be viewed via Zoom (password 102638).
Home on the range
The New York Times hat tips New Mexico in its recent look at places where one can view wildlife in the winter—a story that highlights wolves in Yellowstone, grey great owls in Minnesota and humpbacks in Hawaii. As for NM: bison, an ungulate found in the southern part of the state, specifically at Ted Turner’s Armendaris Ranch, where they are considered a keystone species. According to the Times, wildlife biologists and managers of the 360,000-acre property “are attempting to restore the land to a time before European contact, including reintroducing bison and nurturing species—like the Bolson tortoise—native to the northern Chihuahuan Desert.” Reintroducing bison approximately 30 years ago led the entire ecosystem to restore, according to Jade McBride, managing director of Ted Turner Reserves. As for viewing the bison, the ranch offers private guided tours, which can be done by biking, hiking or in open-air vehicles, and from June through September offers special “expeditions” to visit lava caves on the property that attract roughly one million Mexican free-tailed bats. And speaking of New Mexico animals, be sure to check out the winners in the animal category of New Mexico Magazine’s annual photography contest (no bison, but cool shots of elks and bighorns).
Stay a while
AFAR magazine spotlights Los Poblanos Historic Inn and Organic Farm in a story about the country’s best inns and lodges for foodies, noting that its food buzz has helped change Albuquerque’s former reputation as “the bland but necessary gateway to Santa Fe.” Jonathan Perno, executive chef at the inn’s restaurant, Campo, prepares menus that “reflect the season and the produce from the fields outside, as well as the treasures delivered from other farms and purveyors he’s cultivated relationships with in the Rio Grande River Valley.” Think blue corn from local pueblos; organic mountain lamb raised on native grasses; and cheeses from Tucumcari. As for the surroundings, notable architect John Gaw Meem is responsible for the ranch house style, which AFAR describes as that which “can be seen in bastardized ubiquity at every strip mall in New Mexico” (ouch). Some of the rooms also have the Meem touch, while the newest Field rooms are out by the lavender fields. And speaking of lavender, you’ll find it in the spa treatments, but you can also stay active with fitness classes in the yurt.
Downright balmy
Today should be mostly sunny with a high near 48 degrees (!) and north wind 10 to 15 mph becoming west in the afternoon. According to the National Weather Service, the next two days will feature highs near 50 degrees, but we have a slight chance for snow Friday night.
Thanks for reading! After reading about the California IT worker who won a prize for helping decipher Charles Dickens’ shorthand, The Word subscribed to The Dickens Code to see if she has any luck at cracking codes from the Victorian era.
