Special session set for Tuesday

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan-Grisham announced last week that the state’s special session to discuss relief funds for residents would take place Tuesday. She said the state will make a plan to disburse $300 million from the CARES Act to unemployment, housing assistance, and small business grants.

To show the rapid spread, and the reasoning behind the recent reset, Lujan-Grisham explained that it took 98 days for the state to originally see 10,000 cases, but it only took seven days more recently for the state to jump from 60,000 cases to 70,000. She also compared how the first 200 deaths caused by the virus happened over a period of 46 days, whereas the jump from 1,000 deaths to 1,200 happened within two weeks.

“If we don’t get this under control as quickly as possible you’re going to see 200 deaths in seven days, and that exponential, gruesome number will grow but it doesn’t have to,” she said. “The best defense against the virus is to stay home.”

Lujan-Grisham noted that with the increase in cases, if the most recent health and safety orders are not taken seriously, then communities will begin to see a strain on essential services like caregivers at nursing homes and childcare centers, first responders, medical staff, and grocery store attendants.

The United States reached 250,000 COVID-19 deaths on Thursday. As of Friday, New Mexico reported 77,098 cases of COVID-19 and 1,325 deaths.

Curry County saw 422 new cases last week, along with two deaths and Roosevelt County saw 137 new cases and two deaths. Both counties set new daily case records on Friday, with 104 for Curry County (prior record 88) and 50 for Roosevelt (prior record 26).

Plains Regional Medical Center reported on Friday it had 25 COVID patients, and five COVID patients in the intensive care unit.

In other COVID-related developments:

n During the governor’s briefing she also addressed the importance of the 14-day quarantine period for stopping the spread of the virus, explaining that often symptoms do not emerge until 10 or more days after exposure. She recommended that people get tested after being exposed to the virus, and continue isolating for the full 14 days even if test results comeback negative early on. Lujan-Grisham also said that data shows the ages of those dying from covid are getting younger.

In regard to the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday Lujan-Grisham recommended that New Mexicans “don’t mix” and “support local.”

“Do everything in your power not to mix households, and I know that’s asking a lot because Thanksgiving is exactly how we celebrate bringing our families from multiple households together,” she said.

The governor suggested that people could support their communities small businesses by ordering take-out and celebrating a non-traditional Thanksgiving.

n During the briefing Human Services Secretary Dr. David Scrase said people had questioned him about masks, saying that the state has had a mask mandate for months yet the cases have gone up.

“The public health orders themselves don’t reduce the number of cases,” Scrase said. “It’s New Mexicans complying with public health orders and doing what they say to reduce the number of cases.”

n New Mexico was one of four states selected by Pfizer Inc. to receive a pilot delivery trial of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine is reported to be more than 90% effective in preventing the disease. On Friday Pfizer applied for emergency authorization of its vaccine, shortening the timeline for potential availability to the end of December. The governor said she believed New Mexico was chosen because of its history of medical expertise and its diverse population.

n The state’s Friday COVID-19 Watchlist, which details locations with multiple rapid responses inside of 14 days, included five Curry County locations and four Roosevelt County locations.

Any location with four rapid responses inside 14 days would be subject to closure after review from the New Mexico Environment Department and the New Mexico Department of Health. Entities can argue they should remain open if they have status as a sole provider of goods for a community.

Curry County locations on the watchlist included Southwest Cheese (four rapid responses, down from five earlier last week), the UPS customer center on Brady Avenue, W.T. Denton Mechanical and La Casita Elementary (two each). Roosevelt County locations included Walmart (three rapid responses), Brown Early Childhood Center, Roosevelt County Electric (two each).

n Clovis’ chapter of the Fraternal Order of Eagles canceled its annual Christmas shopping spree due to COVID-19 concerns. Frank Romero of the order said the chapter is saddened with how many people have been affected by the pandemic and urges everybody to follow guidelines from health professionals as plans are in the works for a 2021 shopping spree.

n The Clovis-Carver Public Library, while it is closed to the public, is offering curbside services for materials, according to a city release.

Patrons are asked to visit the online catalog at library.cityofclovis.org to browse the collection and use their library card to place holds on items, or call library staff at 575-769-7840 to request an item.

Following a confirmation call or email, patrons can call the library upon arrival and pick up items at the west entrance. Patrons are asked to provide identification, wear a face covering and maintain distance from staff after identification has been verified.

The service will be offered 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, along with 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

n The city of Clovis is seeking submissions for a promotional video to encourage citizens to wear face coverings.

Participants are asked to shoot as high quality video as possible in a horizontal format (landscape mode on phones) that lasts 5-10 seconds. They are also asked to, while wearing a mask, state why they wear the mask.

Videos should be submitted to Kelsey Knight at [email protected] by Monday.

Information: Knight, 575-763-9670.

Editor Kevin Wilson contributed to this report.