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- The state reported 1,339 cases of COVID-19 this weekend, with 19 additional deaths, 592 new cases (with partial results because of technical issues) and 11 deaths and 747 cases and eight deaths on Sunday. This came after the state crossed the “grim milestone” of 1,000 deaths on Friday, when it reported 1,010 new cases and 13 deaths.
- The Albuquerque Journal wrote a series of stories about the impact of COVID-19 in their Sunday edition, all of which are worth reading. Here they are:
- Devastating Toll: Dismay as NM continues to count its dead
- Woman loses parents, brother to virus within two weeks
- NM’s science-based pandemic response hits turbulence
- Among the dead… (which looks at 15 of the more-than 1,000 deaths related to COVID-19)
- The newspaper also examined the state’s efforts at increasing testing in the state, as the positivity rate increased, which officials say shows the state is missing positive cases.
- The state’s test positivity rate, or the percentage of tests that are positive, has reached 9.2 percent on a seven-day rolling average according to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine’s calculation.
- Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags in the state to be flown at half-staff in honor of the more-than 1,000 COVID-19 related deaths among New Mexicans, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
- The Navajo Nation reported 90 new COVID-19 cases and three additional deaths on Friday, 59 new cases and three additional deaths on Saturday and 73 new cases and no additional deaths on Sunday.
- Gila Regional Medical Center had its first COVID-19-related death, the Silver City Daily Press reported (three previous patients had transferred to other facilities before they died). The hospital did not say how many patients are being treated for COVID-19 at the hospital or how many total beds are occupied.
- The pandemic is making the unhoused situation worse in Santa Fe, the Santa Fe New Meixcan reported.
- KOAT-TV spoke to a Republican elected official and Democratic county party chair about the impact of COVID-19 on the election.
- The state has procedures in place for those who are hospitalized or quarantined for COVID-19 and did not request an absentee ballot, KRQE-TV reported.
- The state’s Rapid Response COVID-19 Watchlist, which is updated daily and shows all the places of business with at least two positive COVID-19 tests among employees in the previous two weeks, is available here. As of Sunday afternoon, there were 111 businesses on the list.
- Despite the increase in cases, some New MExicans are still shopping for non-essential items, KOB-TV reported.
- The New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority has $12.3 million to help those in the state who are behind on rent or mortgage payments, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
- Some volunteers in New Mexico are participating in a COVID-19 vaccine study for AstraZeneca, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
- How did New Mexicans take part in Halloween festivities during the pandemic this weekend? The Las Cruces Sun-News, KRQE-TV and more had stories
- As cases once again grew on the Navajo Nation, the Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise asked the Navajo Nation Council to allow it to open the Nation’s four tribal casinos, the Farmington Daily Times reported.
- Most cadets at the New Mexico Military Institute finished their quarantine after an outbreak of COVID-19 at the high school and junior college, the Roswell Daily Record reported.
- Some Catholics protested the Santa Fe Archbishop’s decision to not hold in-person mass amid the increase in COVID-19 cases, KRQE-TV and KOB-TV reported.