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- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the ban on mass gatherings would apply to churches. The announcement came the day before Easter, the biggest day for churchgoing in Christianity; most churches had already moved to online services.
- House Minority Whip Rod Montoya criticized the move.
- The governor said in a statement afterward that Montoya misrepresented what the order says.
- The Las Cruces Sun-News reported how the Las Cruces Diocese is celebrating Easter at a distance. The Catholic Church had already announced it would not hold in-person Easter Mass.
- The Taos News reported on a “surreal” and “eerie” Holy Week.
- The Department of Health announced another 86 people tested positive for COVID-19, and a 20th person died. Read our story here, with more details.
- The number of positive cases on the Navajo Nation continues to grow quickly; on Saturday, the government announced 101 new cases (for a total of 698), and two additional deaths (for a total of 24). Of the positive cases, 206 are in New Mexico counties, an increase of 48 over the previous day’s total.
- The Navajo Nation government also said that Abbott Laboratories rapid test kits will become available to Navajo area IHS facilities.
- The Santa Fe New Mexican reported on the COVID-19 command center; it’s run by the state’s Medical Advisory Team, which is seeking to coordinate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The Albuquerque Journal reported on how health care workers in the state’s largest city are preparing for a surge in patients. And how they’re preparing to avoid bringing the virus home. Thousands of health care workers across the globe have become sick as they work to treat the disease.
- The Four Corners area of the state is the site of a big surge in positive COVID-19 tests; the Santa Fe New Mexican reported on how the area is responding.
- Even as COVID-19 cases grow in Northwest New Mexico, San Juan Regional Medical Center will furlough employees, the Farmington Daily Times reported. The furloughed employees are in elective care; the state ordered elective procedures to be canceled during the COVID-19 pandemic
- To that point, the Albuquerque Journal wrote about how rural hospitals are feeling the financial pain of no elective procedures.
- An international student who was the victim of a racist prank at UNM is now collecting PPE for medical personnel, KOB-TV reported.
- The Daily Lobo reported on how the Graduate and Professional Student Association at UNM would not host a live presidential candidate forum because of fears of “zoombombing.”
- Rio Rancho, a city in the shadow of Albuquerque and yet one of the state’s most-populous cities, is hunkering down, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
- Local government leadership in Eddy County are awaiting more details on new COVID-19 cases in the county in New Mexico’s southeastern area, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reported.
- The Chino Mine in Grant County temporarily closed because of an outbreak of COVID-19, the Silver City Daily Press reported.