SANTA FE – New Mexico on Friday reported an additional 150 COVID-19 cases, bringing the state’s total to nearly 24,100 since the pandemic began.
The state Department of Health also announced an additional five deaths linked to the virus, including two people from Bernalillo County, two from neighboring Sandoval County and one from McKinley County.
State health officials have been touting New Mexico’s recent decline in average daily case totals as well as decreases in the rate of spread and hospitalizations. Testing and contact tracing efforts also are meeting targets.
The benchmarks are among the factors state officials consider as they weigh whether to ease any of the restrictions included in the state public health order, which will expire in a week. Officials said during a briefing Thursday that no major changes were expected before then since they need to see if the progress can be sustained to avoid another spike in cases.
Human Services Secretary David Scrase said state officials are trying to determine what they can do to provide a little more freedom without increasing risk. He likened any move to reopen parts of the economy – including public schools – to using a dimmer switch rather than flipping a switch to turn the lights back on.
He and others also repeatedly asked residents and visitors to abide by the state’s mask requirements and other provisions of the public health order.
“We can’t let up at all on masking or staying 6 feet apart,” he said during the briefing. “In the greater scheme of reopening, the discontinuation of masks is not something that is probably going to happen until we’re all vaccinated and COVID is a thing of the past.”
