COVID-19 in numbers
New Mexico health officials yesterday reported 2,561 new COVID-19 cases for the three-day period December 11 through December. 13, bringing the total nationwide to 332,238; DOH has designated 283,030 of these cases as recovered. Bernalillo County had 878 new cases, followed by Doña Ana County with 268 and San Juan County with 170. Santa Fe County had 138 new cases. The seven-day nationwide test positivity rate dropped from 11.5% to 10.6%, still above the 7.5% target but closer to it.
The state also announced 12 deaths, including one from Santa Fe County: a woman in her 50s with underlying illnesses. Santa Fe County has now recorded 188 deaths; There were 5,484 deaths nationwide. As of yesterday, 610 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, down 81 since Friday. Currently, 87.3% of New Mexicans aged 18 and over have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 75.1% are fully vaccinated. When the state exceeded 75% for full vaccination, Deputy Health Minister Dr. Laura Parajón made a statement in which she thanked the vaccinated. “This is a major milestone for our country,” she said. Of those over the age of 18, 29% received a booster vaccination. In the 12-17 age group, 65.5% of people have received at least one dose and 56.5% are fully vaccinated. Of the children aged 5 to 11 years, 22.2% received at least one dose of Pfizer vaccine and 10.1%. In Santa Fe County, 99% of people 18 years or older have received at least one dose, and 85% are fully vaccinated.
New Mexicans can register for a COVID-19 vaccine here, schedule a COVID-19 vaccine refresh here, and view a public calendar for vaccine availability here. Parents can add relatives to their vaccination profiles here. You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
NM reports the first case of an Omicron variant
The state health department reported the first known case of the Omicron variant in New Mexico yesterday. According to a DOH press release, the case was identified on Sunday, December 12: an adult woman in the Bernalillo district who recently reported a domestic trip to a state with reported cases from Omicron. The person was examined in a local emergency room and stably discharged home. The DOH is currently conducting a thorough case investigation. To date, the Omicron variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified as a variant of concern, has been confirmed in at least 30 states and the District of Columbia, and in more than 60 countries. The COVID-19 variant appears to be spreading faster than the currently dominant delta variant. A preliminary study published yesterday from South Africa – where Omicron was first detected – of vaccine resistance in the real world shows that two shots of the Pfizer / BioNTech vaccine provide 70% protection from serious complications like hospitalization of the variant, but only 33% protection from infection. Omicron infection appears to be less severe, the study showed, but the variant also appears to have a higher risk of reinfection. Pfizer / BioNTech released the results of its own laboratory study last week, which indicated that a third dose or booster dose would provide more protection against the Omicron variant. Israeli researchers presented similar results as PfizerBioNTech last weekend.
Session is suspended while the Senate negotiates the card
The fast-moving special session of the legislature on redistribution halted yesterday amid opposition to maps for the state’s Senate counties, critics say the work of the citizen redistribution committee and the will of tribal leaders are being ignored. The Albuquerque Journal reports that Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, met with tribal officials for seven hours to review redistribution proposals after Native American leaders condemned the card that was being introduced in place of the card which they had approved by Senate sponsored bill President Pro Tem Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque. The bill reportedly found bipartisan support for avoiding the placing of two incumbent Republicans – Greg Baca of Belen and Joshua Sanchez of Bosque – in a district. Stewart tells the Journal that the Senate’s delay allows more time to talk to tribal leaders. “We just took a break,” she said, “and we will continue to consult and work with them, even if it takes 24 hours, day and night.” As for other laws, both the Senate and House of Representatives approved a map that redrawn the state’s congressional districts; it is now awaiting the signature of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, with supporters of the law rally yesterday at the Roundhouse. The House of Representatives passed a bill to redefine its own boundaries, pending Senate action, as well as a bill for the districts on public education, budget allocations, and medical malpractice laws. House Democrats issued a joint statement yesterday calling on the Senate to take action on funding and medical malpractice, some of which read: “We cannot keep our families and communities waiting for these results. We need to get this critical law signed by the governor so we can go back to our voters and let them know that their New Mexico state government is behind them. “
City occupies almost 30 places according to job event
City guides say a quick hiring event over the weekend has proven successful enough that it could host another event in 2022. More than 140 people attended the event on December 11, which was supposed to end at 2 p.m. but instead lasted most of the day due to the involvement, city communications director Dave Herndon told SFR. The city issued 29 conditional letters of offer to candidates – who will receive a $ 1,000 hiring bonus – in a dozen city councils, including three in the police department; four each in the environmental services and roads departments; and three each in the library and finance departments. There were more than 300 job vacancies in town last week, according to Herndon, but interest in Saturday’s event and vacancies bodes well, he said. “The turnout goes against the prevailing narrative that people don’t want jobs,” said Herndon. Bernadette Garcia, an organizational development specialist, told KOB at the event that the city had decided to “try something different” and make a normally cumbersome process more efficient. Current employees will also receive a $ 2,000 bonus. “It was a huge success in every way,” Mayor Alan Webber said in a statement. “People who need work have good jobs and the city has good people for important tasks. We will learn from this and continue to fill positions in the city quickly and effectively. The city is hiring! “
Listen
Author Debra Rosenman’s award-winning book, The Chimpanzee Chronicles, was produced for 13 years and presents an anthology of heartbreaking stories of captive chimpanzees exploited as biomedical research subjects, entertainers and pets. Rosenman joins Carly Newfeld on the latest episode of the literary podcast The Last Word on KSFR to talk about her book and the stories behind it. Note: The book features a chimpanzee named Burrito on the cover who began life in New Mexico in medical research and entertainment but now lives in Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. “He’s got a happy life,” said Rosenman. “He’s learning to be a chimpanzee.”
Bah, humbug!
If you plan to attend the Santa Fe Symphony’s annual free Christmas Carols and Choirs concert at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral tonight, slow down your role. Symphony executive director Emma Scherer announced yesterday evening that the show had been postponed due to a COVID-19 case at Symphony “and out of an abundance of caution and care”. Instead, the show will take place on Sunday, January 2, 2022 at 3 p.m. So this seems like a good time to mention Santa Fe Symphony TV, which offers both custom performance options and season tickets securely from home “Choir from Handel’s Messiah). For those in need of classical music and in the masked world this season, the Symphony is partnering with the Santa Fe Opera on Christmas Eve for a program at the Lensic Performing Arts Center with selections from Mozart, Georges Bizet, Puccini, Verde and many more. Find out more about the Christmas concert here.
Grounded in Texas
Architectural Digest introduces the Texas property owned by Santa Fe philanthropists Ashlyn and Dan Perry and designed by Lake Flato Architects on 700 acres outside Marfa. It took the main house two years and 3.5 million pounds of earth “just to create the two-foot thick rammed earth walls of the resulting 6,000-square-foot home.” For the interior, Ashlyn worked with set designer and stylist Keith Johnston, who also worked on the Perrys Santa Fe home; their Chama Local and Palace Prime restaurants in Santa Fe; and the guest cabins at their Trout Stalker Ranch in New Mexico, a 1,500-acre ranch in the Chama Valley that can be used for $ 500 to $ 600 a night. The Architectural Digest story offers a tour of the Texas residence, with Ashlyn noting that she sleeps really well in the Marfa house: “I often wonder if it’s the thickness of the walls, the grounding of the earth, or just the Wide landscape. It does something. In the bedroom, Architectural Digest notes, “The corner fireplace was a minimalist nod to kiva fireplaces often found in Santa Fe, where the couple have their primary residence.”
Waiting for the weather
Today it looks partly sunny, with a high of nearly 50 degrees and a north wind at about 10 miles per hour coming southwest in the afternoon. Tonight, however, the National Weather Service predicts a 40% chance of showers, mostly after 11:00 PM, with snow likely tomorrow morning (60% chance) and a return of high winds.
Thank you for reading! The Word has been intermittently obsessed with this New York Times story of the rise in sharks on Cape Cod after the seal populations there recovered since October, and simply thought of it again after seeing the live camera on the dolls beach at Seal Island National Wildlife Refuge .
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