Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (3/5/21 edition)

See all of our COVID-19 coverage here.

• The state Department of Health reported 259 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday according to raw data and 16 additional deaths related to the disease. The department reported 177 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Thursday, a new months-long low for the metric.
  • The state is now below 300 daily cases on a seven-day average, the Albuquerque Journal noted.
• The state’s COVID-19 vaccine dashboard said the state has administered 627,665 doses as of Thursday—401,020 primary doses and 226,665 secondary doses. This does not include any doses administered out of the 196,420 received by the Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service or Bureau of Prisons, which each administer the doses directly.
  • As of Monday, 77.8 percent of those on the Navajo Nation had received at least one COVID-19 shot, with 28.1 percent of the population fully vaccinated, per the Navajo Times. https://navajotimes.com/coronavirus-updates/covid-19-across-the-navajo-nation/
• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci will be on this week’s episode of New Mexico in Focus on New Mexico PBS at 7 p.m. tonight.
• Las Cruces’ mayor still wants Gov. MIchelle Lujan Grisham to give Doña County an exemption to rules that don’t allow counties in the “red” tier to have indoor dining, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
• Testing for COVID-19 remains free, the state insurance regulator reiterated.
• Teachers and staff members at Santa Fe Public Schools who have not been vaccinated will not be required to return to school, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
• Roosevelt County will have a COVID-19 vaccination event in Portales on Saturday, The Eastern New Mexico News reported.
• Socorro County moved back to the yellow tier, the county’s El Defensor Chieftan reported.
• San Miguel and Mora counties are ahead of the state averages on how many residents have been vaccinated, the Las Vegas Optic reported.
• The latest Navajo Department of Health notice said eleven communities on the Navajo Nation currently have spread of COVID-19, the Farmington Daily Times reported.
• Navajo grocery store workers are marking the one-year anniversary of COVID-19, the Navajo Times reported.
• The House passed a bill to prohibit landlords from ending a rental agreement for inability to pay rent during a public health emergency, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
• A bill to give waive liquor license renewal fees for a year passed the House, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
• The Valencia County News-Bulletin wrote about the decision to send Los Lunas students back to in-person learning.
• Belen schools, meanwhile, are working toward a return on March 22, the News-Bulletin reported.
• A federal judge denied a request for a temporary restraining order barring Doña Ana County’s requirement for employees to receive COVID-19 vaccines to keep their jobs, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
• The Sunland Park casino will reopen on Friday, KRQE-TV reported.
• Spectators will be allowed to attend prep sports events according to the county’s current red, yellow, green or turquoise restrictions, KRQE-TV reported.
• Meow Wolf will implement COVID-safe exhibit changes, KRQE-TV reported.

This article was originally posted on Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (3/5/21 edition)