Number of patients hospitalized jumps 24 percent

SANTA FE — The number of New Mexico patients hospitalized with coronavirus symptoms jumped 24% on Friday — reaching 152 people, with 38 patients on ventilators to help them breathe.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, in a press briefing, also said six more people had died, pushing the total to 84 deaths.

“This is harsh,” she said. “There’s no governor, no family member, no individual anywhere in the world that wants to report on this.”

Altogether, Lujan Grisham said, testing confirmed 153 new cases of COVID-19 , bringing the total to 2,521 overall since March 11, when the first infections surfaced.

Lujan Grisham’s comments came as she began a news conference from the Capitol on Friday, just two days after announcing a stay-at-home order will remain in place through May 15.

While infection rates have shown recent signs of leveling off in many New Mexico counties, the state’s northwest corner continues to see a spike in new cases — and deaths.

In all, Native Americans make up 44% of the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases — up from 37% as of last week. Native Americans make up only about 11% of the state’s overall population.

Meanwhile, Lujan Grisham said earlier last week that restrictions on some types of businesses may be eased in the coming weeks, but that large public gatherings would likely remain off-limits for the foreseeable future.

Meanwhile, Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley is apologizing for the trouble New Mexicans have faced accessing their unemployment benefits.

The system has been overwhelmed with applications.

“We are very, very sorry for all of the frustration people have felt working through the unemployment system,” McCamley said. “... Our promise to you is that we’re working constantly every single day to get better to add more resources, so that, at the end of the day, we can put money in your pockets” and make it easier for people to stay home and safe.

The department, he said, has added 145 staff to its unemployment insurance call center. Many of the new staff members are from other state agencies.

The center’s hours have been expanded to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefits has exploded from 9,600 New Mexicans in January to 79,806 in mid-March.