Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (10/26/20 edition)

This morning recap of COVID-19 news from New Mexico is available in a free email every weekday. Sign up here. See all of our COVID-19 coverage here. The state of New Mexico continued to report high numbers of COVID-19 this weekend: 797 on Friday, 827 on Saturday and 828 on Sunday. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 reached an […]

Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (10/26/20 edition)

This morning recap of COVID-19 news from New Mexico is available in a free email every weekday. Sign up here.

See all of our COVID-19 coverage here.

  • The state of New Mexico continued to report high numbers of COVID-19 this weekend: 797 on Friday, 827 on Saturday and 828 on Sunday. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 reached an all-time high of 287 as of Sunday.
  • You can see the state’s COVID-19 watchlist here, which includes any workplace with two or more rapid responses for positive tests in the last 14 days.
  • Cases continue to grow on the Navajo Nation, though tribal health officials had not reported a new death in five days, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported on Saturday.
  • On Sunday, the Navajo Nation reported 76 new cases and no new deaths related to COVID-19 after reporting 64 new cases on Saturday.
  • On the same day that New Mexico had a record number of cases of COVID-19, groups gathered in Santa Fe to protest public health orders designed to slow the spread of the disease.
  • Catholics in Santa Fe celebrated their final mass on Sunday before they suspend in-person services, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • Restaurants now need to keep a log of all patrons to help with contact tracing, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • The Las Cruces Sun-News wrote about how workers are being put in a larger position to help with the state’s COVID-19 response—including dealing with customers who disagree with some of the mandates.
  • A study that included a UNM Ph.D. candidate suggested that schools should open windows to classrooms and put transparent barriers in front of students’ desks, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
  • Two Republican members of Congress attended an in-person fundraiser this weekend that violated the state’s public health order that limits gatherings to five people, at most, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
  • Route 66 Casino in Laguna Pueblo will close for two weeks because of a surge of cases among employees, KRQE-TV reported. Tribal casinos are not governed by the state’s public health order.
  • State agencies will crack down on large gatherings and parties, KOAT-TV reported.
  • As the state braces for a record cold snap, the Westside Emergency Housing Center in Albuquerque will resume normal operations, KOB-TV reported. It was the site of a major COVID-19 outbreak in recent weeks.
  • Navajo Nation police manned checkpoints to enforce a 56-hour curfew this weekend, the Navajo Times reported.
  • The City of Albuquerque is still working on getting personal protective equipment for businesses, and the wait is due to prioritizing local vendors, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
  • The Roswell Independent School District wants a waiver to allow more students to teachers to allow more to have in-person learning, the Roswell Daily Record reported. Chaves County has had the eighth-highest per capita amount of cases in the last seven days, according to the New York Times.
  • The University of New Mexico School of Medicine’s telemonitoring program received $237 million in federal funding, the Daily Lobo reported.
  • The Life Care Center of Farmington, a long-term care facility that lost 44 residents to COVID-19, held a ceremony remembering those lost, the Farmington Daily-Times reported.
  • The Las Cruces Public Schools superintendent wrote about the need to temporarily suspend special education classes because of a COVID-19 case at Picacho Middle School.
  • A pistachio orchard and winery hosted a wedding last weekend, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.
  • Albuquerque Business First spoke to some women who own businesses about the struggle during the pandemic.
  • KUNM-FM spoke to a financial advisor about how the economic impacts of COVID-19 impacted his vote.

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