April 11, 2020
coronavirus

The daily recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (4/11/20 edition)

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U.S. Army

Note: This daily recap of COVID-19 news from New Mexico is available in a free daily email. Sign up here.

See all of our COVID-19 coverage here.

  • UNM researchers have developed a process to decontaminate PPE and let healthcare workers reuse them if necessary. Read our story here.
  • The state Department of Health announced Friday that another person died with COVID-19, bringing the total to 19. The department also announced 106 people tested positive, bringin the total to 1,091. See the story, with more details, here.
  • The Navajo Nation announced 39 new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 597. Of those, 158 are in New Mexico, an increase of 15 over the previous day’s announcement.
  • Two cases are at a Santa Fe senior living home, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • Two people, one detained migrant and one employee, at the Otero County Processing Center have tested positive for COVID-19. 
  • The Canyon Transitional Nursing and Rehabilitation Center will be the location to house COVID-19 positive patients at nursing homes and other similar locations, KOB-TV reported.
  • The state Indian Affairs Department released its Tribal Response Plan earlier this week. The Albuquerque Journal reported on its contents.
  • Former Gov. Bill Richardson is looking to get humanitarian aid to the Navajo Nation, the Associated Press reported.
  • The City of Las Vegas is putting emergency curfews in place, the Las Vegas Optic reported. Residents will not be allowed to travel on city streets or be in public places between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.
  • Anti-abortion groups held a protest for about an hour in front of University of New Mexico Center for Reproductive Health in defiance of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s stay-at-home order. Read our story here.
  • The plan to house homeless and medically fragile at Santa Fe dorms is moving faster than city leaders anticipated. 
  • KOB-TV reported state Attorney General Hector Balderas announced an investigation into La Vida Llena Assisted Living Facility where the state has found more than 50 positive cases of COVID-19.
  • Another 20,000 people in New Mexico filed for unemployment this week, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
  • The state will increase food assistance for the next two months for many SNAP recipients, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • In his regular press briefing, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said the city’s Open Space Division is working with the Albuquerque Police Department on enforcement at trailheads, including on parking.
    • He also said that the city is working with state police on enforcement of which businesses are able to remain open; he said the biggest trouble so far has been smoke shops, followed by massage parlors and said an unnamed chain of furniture stores remained open.
    • Keller also signed another declaration of emergency that, among other things, clarified that the city will not be issuing permits to businesses attempting to change to a type of business that is deemed essential, like smoke shops attempting to say they are grocery stores because they sell some grocery items.
  • Keller also announced a city childcare program for parents who are deemed essential workers who need help with children aged 3-5. The city will open Herman Sanchez Child Development Center starting on Monday. The city says parents can register at 505-767-6504.
  • The NRA and other pro-gun organizations sued the state over gun shops and shooting ranges not being deemed “essential” in the state’s public health emergency order. See the Santa Fe New Mexican story here.
  • The City of Las Cruces approved more aid and extended the city’s emergency order, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
  • The state is trying to do its part to help small businesses that can’t get help from the federal government, KUNM reported.
  • The state court system is preparing for the possibility of ordered isolation or quarantine for those who pose a public health threat during COVID-19; nearly 90 attorneys statewide and two judges in each judicial district attended a training Tuesday to handle such cases.
    “This is a good example of partners in our justice system coming together in this public health emergency and preparing for rarely used legal actions that state health officials could take to protect New Mexicans from exposure to people infected with COVID-19,” said state Supreme Court Justice C. Shannon Bacon in a press release.
  • The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported on federal delegation efforts to get more money to rural areas, including the oil patch.
  • The Silver City Daily Press reported on the shortage of masks after the governor’s recommendation, but not requirement, that all New Mexicans wear masks when in public.
  • The New Mexico Early Childhood and Care Department announced a new grant program for families with infants or toddlers. The grants will go toward organizations “meeting immediate needs pertaining to early childhood during the COVID-19 pandemic.” See the department’s website for more information.
  • The state Human Services Department announced they would provide an additional $35 million to New Mexico hospitals.
  • Sixteen community health health centers in nine counties in New Mexico will receive $15 million in funding from the $2 trillion COVID-19 relief package. The funds will be in the form of emergency grants to allow the centers to handle COVID-19 patients while still dealing with their populations.
  • The City of Santa Fe will allow reusable shopping bags at grocery stores, with some caveats, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • Meow Wolf is eliminating 201 positions, the Santa Fe Reporter reported.
  • Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains announced it has launched an app to make receiving medication contraception and urinary tract infection treatment more accessible during the pandemic. Read our story here.
  • An NMSU researcher is looking at how viruses move from animals to humans.

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