ALBUQUERQUE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Tuesday she will be reinstating a mask mandate for all public indoor spaces in New Mexico as vaccination rates remain stagnant and infections increase.
Her latest public order also will require that more people get vaccinated, such as workers at hospitals, nursing homes, juvenile justice facilities, residential treatment centers and other places that the state deems as high-risk.
All workers at private, public and charter schools in New Mexico also must be either vaccinated or otherwise submit to weekly testing under the new rules being rolled out. Lujan Grisham already requires the same of all state government employees.
The governor said recently that all options would be on the table when it comes to curbing the spread of the virus. Residents and business owners had been anxiously awaiting any word that the state would resume some of the restrictions that had been enacted for much of the pandemic.
Lujan Grisham and other state officials were scheduled to provide more details during a Tuesday briefing.
New Mexico Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said ahead of the briefing that everyone wants the pandemic to be over but that the virus has its own timeline.
“At this stage, the delta variant makes up virtually 100% of new COVID-19 cases in New Mexico,” he said. “This variant spreads up to four times more rapidly than the virus we were dealing with last year.”
While vaccines help to preventing serious illness and death from a COVID-19 infection, he said the bad news is that the virus is still spreading.
The uptick in cases comes as the state prepares for large public gatherings this fall – such as the international balloon fiesta, which normally draws thousands of spectators and pilots from around the world.
New Mexico has outpaced neighboring states and the nation as a whole when it comes to getting people vaccinated. About two-thirds of residents 18 and older have been fully vaccinated, but state health officials warned during a briefing last week that evidence shows inoculated people can still become infected and spread the virus.
The state Health Department has recorded 220,340 COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began. While the daily case totals remain far below the peak seen over the winter, state data shows there has been a more than 4% increase in confirmed cases since the beginning of August.
