Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (3/11/21 edition)

We began the COVID-19 recap at NM Political Report on March 11 of last year. Since then, we have published hundreds of editions of the recap, including seven days a week for several weeks, then for most weekdays following. In recent weeks, the daily recaps have been getting shorter and shorter, as COVID-19 news starts to slow down.

Starting next week, we will go to a weekly format, with a post each Friday recapping the week’s news from around the state. I hope you’ll continue to read the recap and let your friends know about it.

Now on to the recap.

• Thursday represents one year since the state announced the first confirmed cases of COVID-19. We spoke to the governor and two top health officials. About the last year and the future in a story here.
• On Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported 257 new cases of COVID-19 and nine additional deaths related to the disease. The number of those hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Wednesday was 134.
• The state’s vaccine dashboard said the state has administered 706,940 doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of Wednesday. Through this, 26.3 percent of New Mexicans age 16 or older have received at least one shot, and 15.1 percent are fully vaccinated (either with two shots of Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the one shot of Johnson & Johnson). The state has administered 82,544 doses in the last seven days. This does not include any of the 212,280 vaccines received by the Veterans Administration, Indian Health Service or Bureau of Prisons, which administers doses directly.
• The state of New Mexico announced the changes to the red to green map on COVID restrictions on Wednesday. A total of thirteen counties moved to a less-restrictive level versus two weeks ago; seven counties are at turquoise level, seven at green, 18 at yellow and only one at red level. See more details on the red to green framework website.
• The Santa Fe Reporter also looked at the last year of COVID-19. 
• Several cabinet secretaries will host a webinar on the one-year anniversary o f COVID-19 on Thursday at 3 p.m. It will be webcast on the state Human Services Department Facebook page.
• Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democratic members of the state’s congressional delegation discuss the billions that the state of New Mexico will receive from the COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress that will soon be signed into law by President Joe Biden, the Albuquerque Journal reported. The Santa Fe New Mexican also wrote about the press briefing.
• The bill includes $20 billion in direct aid for tribal governments and another $11 billion for federal Indian Country programs, KUNM-FM reported.
• KOB-TV reported on the pandemic’s impact on mental health.
• Some detainees at the Otero County Detention Center are staging a hunger strike over what they say are lax COVID-19 precautions, the Alamogordo Daily News reported.
• Las Cruces Public Schools plans to communicate with families on how to get students back into schools full time, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.
• Vaccinations for teachers in Santa Fe began this week, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported.
• The CEO of UNM Hospitals spoke to the Albuquerque Journal about the strain of the pandemic on the system.
• New Mexico Tech created an app that will help with contact tracing for COVID-19, KRQE-TV reported.
• Senate Republicans tried to force a vote on a bill that would limit the governor’s powers in a declared emergency, but the gambit failed, the Albuquerque Journal reported. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has vowed to veto the bill if it passes.

This article was originally posted on Recap of New Mexico COVID-19 news (3/11/21 edition)