Note: This daily recap of COVID-19 news from New Mexico from the previous day is available in a daily email. Sign up here. The same post will also appear on our website each morning.
- The state announced an additional 29 positive cases of COVID-19 on Sunday. That brings the state’s total to 237 positive cases. The state also reported 22 people have been hospitalized this month and 26 cases of recovery.
- The Navajo Nation’s count of positive COVID-19 cases hit 128 on Sunday, including 24 in New Mexico. The Navajo Nation’s 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew goes into place Monday.
- The Carlsbad Current-Argus wrote about the third confirmed case of COVID-19 in Eddy County, which was first announced by the City of Carlsbad.
- Those detained in New Mexico’s jails and prisons say that ICE is violating hygiene and distancing rules, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
- New Mexico school districts are rushing to prepare for distance learning in the final weeks of the academic year. Read our story here.
- The Alamogordo Daily News wrote about the Alamogordo School District’s preparations.
- President Donald Trump extended the guidelines for social distancing through April 30.
- New Mexico’s congressional delegation sent a letter of support to the U.S. Department of Defense for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s request for a combat support hospital in New Mexico.. The letter, U.S. Sens. Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall, along with U.S. Reps. Xochitl Torres Small, Debra Haaland and Ben Ray Luján, urged the DOD to consider New Mexico’s rural communities when responding to Lujan Grisham’s request for aid from the military in building temporary hospitals.
- The Silver City Daily Press listened in on a call by the Gila Regional Medical Center’s governing body, where the entity said they began preparing for COVID-19 early. The hospital has a “surge plan” for if and when the hospital sees a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases; so far there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in Grant County.
- The delegation also says that $1.25 billion will head to New Mexico as part of the coronavirus response bill Congress passed last week. This includes funds to the state’s national labs. The Albuquerque Journal has more.
- KOB-TV wrote about how churches are doing services online.
- The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions is getting ready for a massive increase in phone calls after unemployment has skyrocketed.
- U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján appeared on AM Joy on MSNBC this weekend to talk about the COVID-19 response. Luján said that governors have told members of Congress that they’ve had trouble dealing with the federal government, and he called on the Trump administration to do more, saying, “Take this seriously Mr. President. We need real leadership. Get the tests out.”
- Short-term rentals are seeing a big bust since no one is traveling—which could lead to foreclosures in the tourist-heavy city of Santa Fe.
- Life has changed in Madrid, another tourist stop between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The Albuquerque Journal wrote about it this weekend.
- The Second Judicial District Court announced the Juvenile Justice Center will be closed for cleaning until Tuesday after a construction worker went home with a fever last week.
- Lt. Gov. Howie Morales and Early Childhood Education and Care Department Secretary Elizabeth Groginksy wrote an op-ed saying they will support early childhood workers.
- Albuquerque’s Downtown Growers’ Market hopes to open on its original start date of April 18 — but with only food vendors, so no artisans, reported KUNM.
- The Alamogordo Daily News profiled a meat market in Cloudcroft. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The soccer team New Mexico United and the nonprofit organization Vitalant are teaming up for a blood drive, KRQE-TV reported.
- Chevron made a $65,000 donation to the local United Way in Carlsbad for food and housing security during the COVID-19 crisis, Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janaway said. It’s part of $230,000 across the Permian Basin.
- The University of New Mexico will send refunds to over 1,100 students for their housing and meal plans, the Daily Lobo reported; UNM is going primarily online-only for the remainder of the semester.