Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (2/23/21 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. On Monday, the state Department of Health reported 237 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths related to the disease. Read more here. Sunday featured no new COVID […]

Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (2/23/21 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.

  • On Monday, the state Department of Health reported 237 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 additional deaths related to the disease. Read more here.
    • Sunday featured no new COVID cases or deaths related to the disease in long-term care facilities, according to a press release by the state Aging and Long Term Services Department.
      “Giving our long term care residents the ability to get a COVID vaccine is reinstating their ability to protect themselves against this vicious disease. For 11 months now, residents have had to endure isolation and testing in an effort to keep them safe. The vaccine represents a shift, giving them the ability to make a decision that protects them, and gives all of us hope for the future,” said Aging and Long Term Services Department (ALTSD) Cabinet Secretary Katrina Hotrum-Lopez.
  • A $7.4 billion state budget proposal headed to the House floor, which includes economic relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • Hospital leaders said in a press conference on Monday that they will ease visitor restrictions as hospitalizations and cases continue to decline, the Santa Fe Reporter wrote.
  • Navajo Nation health officials reported 15 new COVID-19 cases and one additional death related to the disease on Monday.
  • Some people have had to wait months for health care during the pandemic, KOB-TV reported.
  • High schools in Las Cruces began hybrid learning on Monday, Las Cruces Public Schools said.
  • Students at Capital High School said that the in-person part of hybrid learning was much like remote learning, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
  • Some teachers were able to be vaccinated at a Neighborhood Walmart in Albuquerque after saying they were teachers, even if they aren’t a part of the current vaccine phase, KRQE-TV reported.
  • Albuquerque Public Schools’ board voted to request that public schools employees should get priority for COVID-19 vaccinations, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
  • The New Mexico Environment Department announced it has begun to provide the COVID-19 watchlist and other rapid response data in Spanish and Vietnamese..
  • The Las Cruces Sun-News wrote that researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory will have an online presentation on COVID-19 modeling and other data, including on vaccination, on Wednesday.
  • The Rio Rancho Observer wrote about some Sandoval County restaurants reopening to indoor dining.
  • Some high school coaches are hoping to file a lawsuit to allow prep sports to move forward for districts that decided against returning to hybrid learning, KRQE-TV reported.

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