The NM Political Report (https://nmpoliticalreport.com/author/matthewreichbach/)
Matthew Reichbach is the editor of the NM Political Report. The former founder and editor of the NM Telegram, Matthew was also a co-founder of New Mexico FBIHOP with his brother and one of the original hires at the groundbreaking website the New Mexico Independent. Matthew has covered events such as the Democratic National Convention and Netroots Nation and formerly published, “The Morning Word,” a daily political news summary for NM Telegram and the Santa Fe Reporter.
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. New Mexico health officials reported 663 new cases of COVID-19—and 11 new deaths. The eleven deaths are the most in a single day since May. Also, hospitalizations continued to rise.
On Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported 663 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 11 new deaths related to the disease. The number of deaths is the most in a single day since May 21. Hospitalizations for COVID-19 also continued to increase, hitting 313 as of Wednesday. This could include those from out of state who are hospitalized in New Mexico for COVID-19, but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized out of state. The state’s epidemiology report from earlier this week showed that the number of out-of-state residents in New Mexico hospitals remains very low and last peaked in June.
As of Wednesday morning, 621,788 New Mexicans had cast ballots for the general election, continuing the trend of heavy early and absentee voting. With six days until Election Day, statewide turnout is now at 77.33 percent of all votes cast in the 2016 election (including Election Day voting), and 74.61 percent of all votes cast in 2008, which is the state’s highest turnout election. The turnout is now more than the total turnout in the 2000 election in New Mexico and more than any midterm election except 2018. Three counties did not report any new additional ballots since Tuesday’s update (Cibola, Sandoval and Socorro counties), so the turnout is likely even higher. A winter storm has hit New Mexico which likely impacted early voting and will continue to do so—the National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning for areas of eastern New Mexico on Wednesday.
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 reported 590 cases of COVID-19 and four additional deaths. The state had fewer processed tests because of the winter storm blanketing the state. But hospitalizations for COVID-19 once again increased.
The New Mexico Department of Health on Tuesday reported 590 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico and four additional deaths related to the disease. This came with a lower number of test results reported than in recent days, just 4,497 more tests than the previous day. Testing sites throughout the state were closed on Monday because of the winter storm that has hit New Mexico. This was the lowest single-day total since early October. For the second straight day, Doña Ana County had the most newly reported cases, this time with 163.
While voting slowed on Monday as a large winter storm blanketed much of the state, New Mexico remains on a record pace for turnout, and has reached nearly three-quarters of the total 2016 turnout with seven days until election day. As of Tuesday morning, 592,906 voters had cast ballots, just under 30,000 more than the previous day’s total, the lowest one-day increase since Oct. 14. The Secretary of State released the numbers Tuesday morning. It included the lowest day of early in-person votes since the start of expanded early voting (17,163) and the lowest total of returned absentee ballots since Oct.
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. New Mexico continues to report high numbers of COVID-19 cases, with 732 new cases and nine additional deaths related to the disease reported Monday. Read more here.Doña Ana County is the current hotspot for the state of New Mexico, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. Across the border in Texas, things are even worse, and the El Paso County Judge ordered a daily curfew as hospitals fill up, the El Paso Times reported.
On Monday, New Mexico Department of Health officials reported 732 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths related to the disease. The nine deaths were the most in a single day since August 31.
Hospitalizations also increased again, as well. DOH said the number of hospitalizations reached 289, two more than reported on Sunday. This could include those from other states who are hospitalized in New Mexico but would not include New Mexicans who are hospitalized out of state. As of Monday, 76 percent of general hospital beds were full and 70 percent of ICU beds.
New Mexico’s blistering voter turnout pace continued over the weekend, and the Secretary of State’s office reported 562,909 votes have already cast ballots in this year’s general election, with over a week to go until Election Day. The turnout represents 70 percent of the total turnout in New Mexico in 2016 (which included final absentee, early in-person and Election Day voting).
New Mexico already shattered its previous record for returned absentee ballots last week, and as of Monday morning, 252,905 voters have returned absentee ballots. The Secretary of State’s office was not able to provide data on how many total absentee ballot requests were received by county clerks. It’s likely that the over 250,000 returned ballots represent about two-thirds of the total requests. Early in-person voting also continued to exceed that of 2016.
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.