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.
- The state announced 181 new COVID-19 cases and 9 additional deaths related to the disease. See the details here.
- The Navajo Nation announced 119 additional cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths on Friday. There are now 2,876 confirmed cases of COVID-19 on the Navajo Nation and 96 deaths.
- Of the total cases, 1,165 are from New Mexico, an increase of 54 over Thursday’s announcement.
- A man filed a lawsuit against the state after his elective surgery on his gallbladder was canceled because of the state’s public health emergency order designed to save PPE. Read the story here.
- New Mexico’s oil revenue is expected to continue to fall for the foreseeable future, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
- The Las Vegas Optic reported that an inmate at the San Miguel County Detention Center tested positive for COVID-19; now 22 staff members are living at the jail as they await test results. See more here.
- The Associated Press examined the difficulties around the Gallup lockdown and the dividing line it has created as the city’s mayor and the governor hope to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the city and McKinley County.
- You can watch a press conference by State Sen. George Muñoz on the staffing problems at Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services on the state senator’s Facebook page.
- New Mexico In Depth wrote about a health center in Albuquerque that is hoping ot help the area’s Native population with COVID-19 testing.
- Albuquerque Public Schools said furloughs are on the table as a way to balance the school district’s budget, KOB-TV reported.
- Short-term rentals in Santa Fe are almost empty because of COVID-19, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. This echoes a nationwide trend..
- The mayor of Las Cruces plans to require face masks for voters at City Hall, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. Some city councilors disagreed with this proposal.
- Some Santa Fe area stores were accused of price gouging, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
- The Eddy County Commissioner voted to sue Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, alleging that the state public health emergency orders are unfair, the Carlsbad Current-Argus reported.
- The Associated Press wrote about how the COVID-19 pandemic has further hurt New Mexico’s job and poverty situation.
- Some businesses, meanwhile, have either avoided layoffs or are even expanding workforces, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
- The City of Santa Fe extended its closure of libraries, recreation centers and other city-owned facilities, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
- A Hobby Lobby in Roswell opened in defiance of the state public health emergency order, KOB-TV reported.
- A group of liquor stores say the state should reimburse a portion of their licensing fees, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
- Non-essential dental services can go forward, as long as the dental providers abide by state guidelines.
- The Roswell Daily Record highlighted the New Mexico National Guard’s role in the COVID-19 relief efforts.
- The state of New Mexico announced that the All Together NM Fund will award $750,000 in grants to businesses with five or fewer employees. The funds will be distributed by the nonprofits WESST, Rio Grande Development Corp, NM Community Capital and DreamSpring.
“Business relief from the federal government has been scattered, and far too much of what was first available went to large businesses. Many micro businesses in New Mexico and elsewhere didn’t get a fair shake,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement. “So thank you to the All Together NM Fund for reaching out and reaching in to support as many micro businesses as we can. No doubt that’s going to make an incredible difference,” she said.
