COVID-19 by the numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 178 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total so far to 29,157. Bernalillo County led with new cases: 48 of them, followed by Chaves County with 28 and Doña Ana County with 26. Santa Fe County had seven new cases.
The Public Education Department reported 16 new positive cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours at public schools in Bernalillo, Chaves, Doña Ana, Eddy, Lea, Roosevelt and San Juan counties.
The state also announced two additional deaths from Eddy County; there have now been 875 fatalities. As of yesterday, 80 people were hospitalized with COVID-19—14 on ventilators.
The state's effective rate of transmission has risen to 1.25, above the target of 1.05 or less. While the seven-day rolling average for new cases remains below 168, it has risen to 152 and Human Services Secretary David Scrase said during a briefing yesterday he expects it will rise past the 168 marker next week. "We do believe there is some rebound effect from Labor Day," he said. New Mexico also slipped from yellow (caution warranted) to red (trending poorly on the COVID Exit Strategy map.
You can read all of SFR's COVID-19 coverage here. If you've had experiences with testing or the virus, we would like to hear from you.
State officials expect surge of behavioral health problems
COVID-19 is causing increased behavioral health issues across the US, with New Mexico health officials bracing for a "surge" in the state, which already has the highest suicide rate in the nation. Shake-ups in the state's behavioral health care system that transpired during former Gov. Susana Martinez's administration continue to reverberate. For instance, the workforce remains insufficient, according to Behavioral Health Services Division Director Dr. Neal Bowen, who presented information on the issue during a COVID-19 webinar yesterday with Human Services Secretary David Scrase. "One of the ways we're trying to respond to that workforce numeric insufficiency is by leveraging technology to try to put behavioral health capacity at the hands of the people who are going to need support as we move into the surge and move through the COVID pandemic," Bowen said. He also shared corresponding data for people experiencing loneliness with their general health-related habits, showing that eating healthy, getting exercise and having some interactions improved outcomes. Health officials have encouraged the public to use the state's Crisis Line (1-855-NMCRISIS), which offers a range of support services, including crisis intervention and referrals.
SFPS looks to modify student re-entry plan
Santa Fe Public Schools' leadership plans to propose a modified re-entry plan for students to school board members on Thursday. While still intending to kick off a combination of online and in-person learning Oct. 15 for elementary students—the so-called hybrid plan outlined by the state—SFPS' new plan prioritizes students with disabilities and those without internet access. Moreover, the number of students will vary from school to school based on both student enrollment as well as teacher and staff availability. Superintendent Veronica García likened the entire process to "putting together a massive puzzle…it's intense." SFPS will only be able to re-open if Santa Fe County continues meeting the school re-opening criteria set by the state: average daily cases under 8 per 100,000 and test positivity rates under 5%. Those figures are released every two weeks and, as of this morning, had not been updated since Sept. 15.
NM reacts to presidential debate
According to Merriam-Webster, the words "white supremacist," "antifa," "fascism" and "racism" were all trending following last night's first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden. "Logorrhea" also was trending after MSNBC's Rachel Maddow used it to describe Trump (if you missed it, Biden also reacted to Trump's display of logorrhea by asking him to shut up). New Mexico Democrats watched the debate and shared a few choice words about Trump, with US Sen. Tom Udall tweeting: "Let's be honest about what we saw tonight: a president who refused to condemn white supremacists, who denied climate change, and who embarrassed the country with his attempts to undermine our elections." US Rep. Deb Haaland said: "Joe Biden is the President America needs. We can't afford another four years of lies, intolerance, and hate." And Democrat Party State Chair Marg Ellison, in a statement, said the debate showed New Mexicans "another failed attempt to rewrite history…Donald Trump's policies have been disastrous for New Mexico and for the American people, and no amount of debate rhetoric is going to distract from those facts." State Republican Party Chair Steve Pearce, unsurprisingly, thought the debate was a win for Trump: "I've said it before and I'll say it again, this new Republican Party is the future of New Mexico and America!" As for the next two debates, Maddow's suggestion that we also debate by mail is sounding pretty good.
Listen up
At 7 pm this evening, the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe offers a webinar with filmmaker Ric Burns on the life of writer and neurologist Oliver Sacks. Burns' film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, documents interviews with Sacks during the final year of his life. Burns will discuss Sacks—whose life work included decades studying and documenting those whose neurological peculiarities such as sleeping sickness, Tourette's and autism—with editor Paul Barnes. Click here to register for the discussion and/or stream the film for $12.
Red or Green?
Who better to ponder New Mexico chile than Tia Sophia's owner Nick Maryol? (That's a rhetorical question). Ponder Maryol does in a short piece in New Mexico Magazine, where we learn how ordering red and green came to be known as "Christmas." (We actually have no idea if this origin story for the official state question is true or not, but it sounds credible. And, yes, we did look up the original legislation designating "red or green" as the official state question.). Maryol started working at Tia's when he was 6 years old, bussing tables. Since then, he's done it all, except cook. You might think, given Tia Sophia's popularity, its chile comes with secrets. Not so much. "We never tried to be precious here," Maryol says. "It's just home cooking. I feel like I have one of the most honest chiles in town. We don't add a whole lot—a little bit of garlic, salt, and cornstarch. We're not trying to challenge anybody's personhood with the spice levels."
Where the wild things are
The Wall Street Journal includes New Mexico's Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge as one of four wildlife refuges to visit this fall, based on the recommendations of nature photographer Ian Shive, whose forthcoming book (Oct. 27), Refuge: America's Wildest Places, documents his eight years of photographing 568 protected areas managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Of the Bosque, which Shive visits each year to see the thousands of snow geese and sandhill cranes, he says: "Imagine standing at a runway at a busy airport and seeing thousands of airplanes flying in your direction. They blot out the sky." He also provides recs on where to eat (Buckhorn Tavern) and stay (Los Poblanos).
Pumpkin head
Today's forecast calls for sunny skies with a high near 79 degrees and north wind 5 to 10 mph becoming south in the afternoon. Looking ahead, Santa Fe has sunny days in the mid 70s straight on through the weekend. If you're looking to take advantage of the fall weather, perhaps El Rancho de las Golondrinas' Pumpkin Patch Weekend Fundraiser?
Thanks for reading! The Word thinks maybe the next two presidential debates should be canceled and replaced with a Sarah Cooper special.
