New Mexico's COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths all are rising dramatically, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said today during a weekly briefing.
"The data is not good and we are not trending anywhere in the right direction," Lujan Grisham said. Moreover, it is too late to stop rising hospitalizations and deaths in November, she said.
"There is nothing we can do," she said. "Nothing that will change that trajectory because those infections have occurred and those problems are occurring. I'm very sad to be saying that today but it doesn't make it any less true."
The warnings arrived as the governor announced 862 new COVID-19 cases, led by Bernalillo County with 202 and Doña Ana County with 137. Both Chaves and Santa Fe counties had the third highest number of new cases today: 53. Details on new and statewide cases are available at the end of this story.
Today marked record number of deaths in a single day: 23, with 400 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 58 of them on ventilators.*
Hospitalizations have increased 95% in the last two weeks and 260% in the last month, while deaths have jumped 108% from just over one week ago and 230% from two weeks ago.
To drive home the concerns about hospital capacity, two New Mexico doctors joined today's briefing to echo the governor's call for New Mexicans to socially distance and wear masks at all times.
"We've had multiple situations where large families get sick because they were all at a get-together and we know that someone is going to die in that group," Jonathan Marinaro, a University of New Mexico professor and co-chief for UNM's Center for Adult Critical Care, said. "We've had nurses who have had their family members die…it is a devastating disease. We ask you as healthcare providers to socially distance…to avoid anything that could get you exposed." He said UNM is using surgery, pediatrics and other hospital areas to treat the "enormous" volume of COVID-19 patients.
Denise Gonzales, medical director at Presbyterian Healthcare Services, discussed the protocols that had been put into place during the first wave of infections that would require invoking crisis standards of care—ones in which not everyone gets treatment because of maxed out capacity. "The overall philosophy is what measures can we take to maximize the number of lives saved," she said. "To define it plainly, it's giving us guidelines for who to do triage on, who to decide to not treat because they're not likely to survive and which ones to treat and transfer…we designed it with a hope of never having to use it and what the numbers are showing us now is we might have to."
Human Services Secretary David Scrase reviewed several measures the state is implementing to bolster hospitals. Those include the infusion of at least 400 traveling nurses arriving this month, rapid expansion of hospital home care and an "urgent resurvey" of hospitals to determine what the current real-time staffing capacity is. The state also has sent out recruitment letters to retired and inactive healthcare workers and is reaching out to unemployed healthcare workers this week as well. Other staffing initiatives include recruiting new New Mexico Medical Reserve Corps. volunteers and applying for staffing resources from the Federal Emergency Management Administration. Scrase said the state also is evaluating use of the Lovelace hospital site on Gibson as a medical shelter site and "hospital relief valve."
"We're in a pretty bad situation," Scrase said. "I think that's clear."
Although Scrase and the governor issued grim warnings for the month ahead, Lujan Grisham said she would not be issuing any changes to the public health order yet.
"I believe it's our last time to say we still have the power to break this chain of spread," she said, adding later, "I'm hoping we are going to come together as a state so we don't have to continue to do this through December and we begin that incremental process of bringing our cases down. If we don't… more drastic decision making will occur."
New cases
- 202 new cases in Bernalillo County
- 53 new cases in Chaves County
- 28 new cases in Cibola County
- 45 new cases in Curry County
- 1 new case in De Baca County
- 137 new cases in Doña Ana County
- 42 new cases in Eddy County
- 3 new cases in Grant County
- 2 new cases in Guadalupe County
- 28 new cases in Lea County
- 2 new cases in Lincoln County
- 2 new cases in Los Alamos County
- 51 new cases in Luna County
- 26 new cases in McKinley County
- 1 new case in Mora County
- 7 new cases in Otero County
- 14 new cases in Rio Arriba County
- 12 new cases in Roosevelt County
- 38 new cases in Sandoval County
- 26 new cases in San Juan County
- 5 new cases in San Miguel County
- 53 new cases in Santa Fe County
- 6 new cases in Sierra County
- 7 new cases in Socorro County
- 13 new cases in Taos County
- 2 new cases in Torrance County
- 31 new cases in Valencia County
- 3 new cases among individuals held by federal agencies at the Otero County Prison facility
- 1 new case among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Lea County Correctional Facility
- 12 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County
- 9 new cases among New Mexico Corrections Department inmates at the Roswell Correctional Center
New fatalities
- A female in her 60s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 90s from Bernalillo County who had underlying conditions
- A male in his 40s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 50s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A second male in his 70s from Bernalillo County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 70s from Cibola County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 70s from Cibola County who had underlying conditions
- A male in his 60s from Curry County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 40s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 70s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 80s from Doña Ana County who was a resident of Adobe Assisted Living in Las Cruces
- A male in his 60s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 70s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A second male in his 70s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 80s from Doña Ana County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 80s from Eddy County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A male in his 90s from Eddy County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Artesia Healthcare and Rehabilitation facility
- A male in his 60s from Luna County who was hospitalized and had underlying conditions
- A female in her 80s from Santa Fe County who was a resident of the Kingston Residence of Santa Fe facility
- A female in her 100s from Santa Fe County who had underlying conditions and was a resident of the Kingston Residence of Santa facility
- A male in his 90s from Santa Fe County who was a resident of Mi Casa Bonita facility in Santa Fe
- A male in his 70s in Valencia County who was hospitalized, had underlying conditions and was an inmate with the New Mexico Corrections Department Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County.
Congregate facilities
The Department of Health has identified at least one positive COVID-19 case in residents and/or staff in the past 28 days at the following facilities:
- Adobe Assisted Living in Las Cruces
- Advantage Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
- Albuquerque Heights Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center
- The Aldea House – Heaven Sent LLC in Albuquerque
- The Arbors of Del Rey in Las Cruces
- Artesia Healthcare and Rehabilitation
- Atria Vista Del Rio in Albuquerque
- Avamere at Fiesta Park in Albuquerque
- Aztec Healthcare in Aztec
- Bear Canyon Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
- BeeHive Homes Deming
- BeeHive Homes Farmington
- Belen Meadows Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Belen
- Bloomfield Nursing and Rehabilitation in Bloomfield
- Brookdale Santa Fe
- Brookdale Valencia Albuquerque
- Calibre Sagecrest Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Las Cruces
- Casa del Sol Center in Las Cruces
- Casa de Oro Center in Las Cruces
- Casa Maria Health Care Center in Roswell
- Casa de Paz in Rio Rancho
- Casa Real in Santa Fe
- Clayton Nursing and Rehabilitation in Clayton
- Clovis Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
- Colfax Long Term Care Center in Colfax
- Desert Springs Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Hobbs
- El Castillo in Santa Fe
- Fairwinds Assisted Living in Rio Rancho
- Fort Bayard Medical Center in Santa Clara
- Good Life Senior Living in Carlsbad
- Good Life Senior Living in Lovington
- Good Samaritan Manzano Del Sol Independent Senior Living in Albuquerque
- Good Samaritan Society Betty Dare in Alamogordo
- Good Samaritan Society Grants
- Good Samaritan Society Las Cruces
- Grace Adult Care Homes in Albuquerque
- Haciendas of Grace Village in Las Cruces
- Heartland Continuing Care Center in Portales
- Ladera Center in Albuquerque
- Laguna Rainbow Care Center in Casa Blanca
- Lakeview Christian Home in Carlsbad
- Las Palomas Center in Albuquerque
- La Vida Llena Assisted Living in Albuquerque
- The Legacy at Santa Fe
- Little Sisters of the Poor in Gallup
- Lotus Care Homes Galaxia in Albuquerque
- Life Care Center in Farmington
- Lovington Healthcare in Lovington
- Kingston Residence of Santa Fe
- Mescalero Care Center in Mescalero
- Mi Casa Bonita in Santa Fe
- The Montebello on Academy in Albuquerque
- The Neighborhood in Rio Rancho
- The New Beginnings Senior Living in Albuquerque
- New Mexico State Veterans Home in Truth or Consequences
- North Ridge Care Center in Albuquerque
- Odelia Healthcare (Camino Healthcare) in Albuquerque
- Palmilla Senior Living in Albuquerque
- Princeton Place in Albuquerque
- Red Rocks Care Center in Gallup
- The Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque
- Retirement Ranches in Clovis
- Retreat Healthcare in Rio Rancho
- The Rio Las Estancias in Albuquerque
- Rio Rancho Center
- Sandia Ridge Center in Albuquerque
- Sandia Senior Suites in Albuquerque
- Sandia View West in Rio Rancho
- Sierra Healthcare Center in Truth or Consequences
- Silver City Care Center in Silver City
- Skies Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
- Sombrillo Nursing and Rehabilitation in Los Alamos
- South Valley Care Center in Albuquerque
- St. Anthony Healthcare and Rehabilitation Center in Clovis
- The Suites Rio Vista in Rio Rancho
- Sunset Villa Care Center in Roswell
- Taos Living Center
- Uptown Rehabilitation Center in Albuquerque
- Village Retirement Community in Roswell
- Vista Hermosa in Santa Fe
- The Watermark at Cherry Hills in Albuquerque
- Welbrook Senior Living Las Cruces
- Westwind House Assisted Living in Albuquerque
- Wheatfields Senior Living Community in Clovis
- White Sands Healthcare in Hobbs
Statewide cases
According to a state news release, previously reported numbers included three cases that have been identified as duplicates (two in Doña Ana County and one in Sandoval County). County totals are subject to change upon further investigation and determination of residency of individuals positive for COVID-19.
Cases among people being held by federal agencies
- Cibola County Correctional Center: 348
- Otero County Prison Facility: 399
- Otero County Processing Center: 191
- Torrance County Detention Facility: 44
Cases among people being held by the New Mexico Department of Corrections
- Central New Mexico Correctional Facility in Valencia County: 155
- Guadalupe County Correctional Facility: 1
- Lea County Correctional Facility: 113
- Northeast New Mexico Correctional Facility in Union County: 10
- Northwest New Mexico Correctional Center in Cibola County: 8
- Otero County Prison Facility: 472
- Penitentiary of New Mexico in Santa Fe County: 60
- Roswell Correctional Center: 22
- Southern New Mexico Correctional Facility in Doña Ana County: 55
- Western New Mexico Correctional Facility in Cibola County: 5
*Per the health department, hospitalization figures include people who were tested elsewhere but are hospitalized in New Mexico, but don't include people who were tested here but are hospitalized out of state.
