COVID-19 in numbers
New Mexico health officials reported 632 new COVID-19 cases yesterday, bringing the nationwide total to 252,017. DOH has designated 222,391 of these cases as recovered.
Bernalillo County had 167 new cases, followed by Lea County with 62 and San Juan County with 58. Santa Fe County had 20 new cases.
The state also announced 12 more deaths, 10 of which were recent; So far there have been 4,788 fatalities. 287 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized yesterday.
Currently, 79.9% of New Mexicans aged 18 and over have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 70.5% are fully vaccinated. In the 12 to 17 age group, 63.8% of people received at least one dose and 54.3% were fully vaccinated. In Santa Fe County, 90.9% of those over 18 have received at least one dose and 80.9% are fully vaccinated.
During a weekly briefing yesterday, health officials reported that 88% of the state’s hospital workers are now fully vaccinated, 4% are partially vaccinated, 7% have an approved exception, and 1% remain unvaccinated (with around 90% of facilities reporting). The report follows a public health ordinance issued in August requiring hospital workers to be vaccinated. Several other large institutions have also issued vaccination mandates to their staff, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory; Three dozen employees recently filed a lawsuit contesting the lab’s mandate. The University of New Mexico fought a midnight deadline last night to contact the remaining students, faculty, and staff who are not yet required to provide proof of vaccination; unvaccinated students face potential de-registration while employees could lose their jobs, officials said.
You can read all of SFR’s COVID-19 coverage here.
NM cases, hospital stays declining, transmission still high
Most New Mexico counties continue to have high transmission rates of COVID-19 even as daily cases decline. Santa Fe County, which cut its broadcast to “significant” last week, went back to red or high this week, according to the latest health department report on broadcast in the community. DOH officials offered a mixture of optimism and premonition during yesterday’s weekly COVID-19 briefing. On the plus side, cases continue to decline in both New Mexico and across the country. “I’m happy to share this, but I think it is also important to acknowledge that we may not be finished with this surge as we head into the winter season,” said state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Ross. Hospital stays also seem to be getting easier. “The light at the end of the tunnel is hopefully not an oncoming train,” said the acting Minister of Health, Dr. David Scrase on the latter. The state is among the best in the country for the coexistence of high vaccination rates and low hospitalization rates, although the state’s hospitals remain very busy. While the DOH continues to focus on continued vaccination, it has begun providing boosters of the Pfizer vaccine to the first eligible residents and will open them to the second group on October 11th. Officials continue to emphasize both the vaccine and re-vaccination treatment with monoclonal antibodies against infection and yesterday delivered a report on the increasing use of the drug ivermectin, which is typically used to treat parasitic infections and has not been shown to help with COVID-19. In New Mexico, two people hospitalized for ivermectin toxicity ultimately died of COVID-19, Scrase said.
Santa Fe is preparing for cannabis
The Santa Fe City Council passed the Santa Fe Cannabis Zoning Ordinance last night, creating the regulatory framework for the new recreational cannabis industry. Santa Fe will take 300 feet between cannabis companies and schools; 400 feet between individual companies; and in an effort by city officials to do justice to micro-enterprises – producers with 200 mature plants or less – in more zones than larger producers. The passage of the ordinance paves the way for potential producers in Santa Fe to obtain a state license, applications for which the Cannabis Control Department of the state regulator and licensing agency began accepting on August 25. After lawmakers passed the state recreational cannabis law in March, a city subcommittee spent several months reviewing possible regulations and held two public meetings, according to Noah Berke, head of land use planning, during which it received only two public comments. Santa Fe County passed its zoning ordinance on July 30th. To date, the state has 59 Santa Fe County grower license applications in progress and three more have been completed.
FAA clears Virgin Galactic to resume flights
The Federal Aviation Administration yesterday cleared Virgin Galactic to resume flights, concluding its investigation into the launch of Virgin Galactic Unity 22 on July 11th. According to a statement by the FAA, “an accident investigation is intended to determine the root cause of the event and identify changes that the operator must make to prevent the event from happening again.” In the case of Virgin Galactic, “The investigation has shown that the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo vehicle deviated from its assigned airspace as it descended from space. The FAA also noted that Virgin Galactic had failed to report the deviation to the FAA as required. As a result, the FAA called on Virgin Galactic to “make changes to the way it communicates with the FAA during flight operations to keep the public safe.” “. After that, Virgin Galactic is no longer grounded. “Our entire approach to space is guided by a fundamental commitment to safety at all levels, including our space system and flight test program,” Virgin CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement. “We appreciate the FAA’s thorough review of this investigation. Our flight test program is specifically designed to continuously improve our processes and procedures. The updates to our airspace and real-time mission notification logs will strengthen our preparations as we near the commercial launch of our space experience. ”The company’s next test flight, Unity23, will be its first commercial research mission and will not take place until mid-October at the earliest.
Listen
Did you know it’s almost croptober? We neither. But apparently that’s October’s nickname for those in the know when it comes to growing cannabis. On the latest installment of the Growing Forward podcast, New Mexico in Focus correspondent Gwyneth Doland talks to food historian, novelist, and creator of the Fiery Foods Show, Dave DeWitt, about growing medicinal cannabis. Hosts Andy Lyman and Megan Kamerick also speak to a company about the challenges they faced in obtaining their production license from the Cannabis Control Division prior to the April 1st sales launch.
Santa Fe on a budget
We couldn’t resist reading a Lonely Planet story called “Santa Fe for Free,” which shows ways to experience the state’s capital without spending any money. Many of these take place on or near the plaza and include the summer concert series that AMP Concerts produced last summer, a chance, says Lonely Planet, “to dance like no one with visitors and locals of all ages in the heart of Santa Fe.” watch ”(that’s a pretty accurate description). Then there is the Martyrs’ Cross (aside from graffiti); a trip to St. Francis Cathedral; and rummaging for art under the portal. Provided you can fill up with a little gas, Lonely Planet also recommends window shopping at Jackalope; Hiking in the Santa Fe National Forest; and the pièce de résistance: a guided tour of the Santa Fe Spirits distillery. Regarding the latter: “The tour is free, but ends in the tasting room, where you can take part in a guided tasting of the distillery’s products for a fee.” (We did that; it’s fun). All in all, a reasonable summary for a frugal visit to Santa Fe, some of which actually “allow you to see the city like a local,” although we will likely never refer to Santa Fe as “the Fe.”
Pandemic love
Santa Fe-based writer Meaghen Brown recently wrote a “Modern Love” column for the New York Times that tells the story of how they lived together here: love + the COVID-19 pandemic. The title of the story: “Remote work gave us a life together. Now what? ”Describes how their relationship, which originally began in Santa Fe when she and Matt were editors for the same magazine, turned into a long-distance relationship when she left Santa Fe to seek a job in Ventura, California. “It was a good opportunity, but it didn’t make sense for Matt to quit his job to come with me or for me to miss it and stay,” she writes Finding out work and our relationships, a process made difficult by the high cost of living and careers in an industry that often faded before our eyes. “When the pandemic closed her California office, Brown returned to Santa Fe, where” Amid the mask requirement and the choropleth hospital cards we settled on something we never had: a life together. “What happens next? Spoiler alert: Nobody knows. But as Brown writes,” Nobody wants this pandemic to continue. The suffering and the losses were incalculable. And yet these strange circumstances also made it possible for us to begin our life together. “
Here comes the rain again
The National Weather Service promises precipitation today (at least our interpretation of a 100% rain probability). Pay particular attention to isolated showers and thunderstorms, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after noon with a maximum of about 65 degrees and north winds of 10 to 24 km / h that comes south in the afternoon.
Thank you for reading! The Word got a little tired of waiting for this year’s Ocean Photography Awards 2021 to load up on Oceanographic Magazine’s website, but it’s worth it (you can see them in smaller versions via Smithsonian Magazine if you just aren’t expecting it can).
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