November 18, 2020

Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (11/18/20 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. New Mexico health officials reported single-day highs in new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations on Tuesday, as the virus continues to spread. The number of new cases and deaths […]

Matthew Reichbach

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 single-day highs in new COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations on Tuesday, as the virus continues to spread. The number of new cases and deaths were both well above the previous record highs. Read more here.
- One of the deaths announced on Tuesday was a preteen, the youngest death so far related to COVID-19, the Santa Fe Reporter wrote.
Memorial Medical Center in Las Cruces received a mobile morgue last week, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
New Mexico will be part of a vaccine pilot program for Pfizer, though it’s not clear what this will entail, since it won’t mean the state will get doses of the vaccine early, the company said. Read more here.
A testing site in Alamogordo closed because they ran out of testing supplies, the Alamogordo News reported.
- Alamogordo City Hall is closed to the public because of the state’s public health order, the Alamogordo News reported.
The state Public Education Department is looking to account for 12,000 students who are absent from school during the pandemic, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. It’s not clear if these are students who have stopped attending classes or if they are at private schools or attending homeschool.
Teachers at Gallup McKinley County Schools say the district isn’t doing enough to protect them from COVID-19 as a teacher who contracted COVID-19 is hospitalized and on a ventilator, KOB-TV reported.
The City of Albuquerque will get two grants, totaling $750,000, to aid in rebuilding the city’s workforce, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The Mayor of Socorro put up barricades to stop COVID-19 positive individuals from quarantining in a local hotel. Members of the Navajo Nation community of Alamo were set to quarantine at the hotel, KRQE-TV reported.
A well-known entrepreneur in Taos died from complications after contracting COVID-19, KOB-TV reported.
An employee of at Los Alamos National Laboratory died from COVID-19, the first so far; in all, 191 employees have contracted the disease, including 59 in the last week, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported, citing a memo sent to employees.
The New Mexico State University men’s basketball team will be based in Phoenix to be able to practice and play games, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
Some companies in Albuquerque are refusing to abide by the state’s public health order that closed nonessential businesses, KRQE-TV reported, including a gym. The City of Albuquerque said any restaurants that refuse to comply will lose their food service permit.
- A bar in Albuquerque was cited for staying open past 10 p.m. on Saturday, the time which places of business had to close in the previous public health order, KRQE-TV reported.
The Range Cafe laid off 200 employees, KOAT-TV reported.
The Las Vegas Optic wrote about the COVID-19 closures.
The Carlsbad Current-Argus reported on businesses in the city that will be closed again because of the COVID-19 order.
The Sawmill Market will start a limited delivery service, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
Broken Trail Distillery and Brewery will close, the Albuquerque Journal reported.