Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal
For the second time this week, the state broke its own record of daily COVID-19 cases, with 1,287 recorded Friday. That pushes the weekly average to a record high of 928 cases a day.
Jodi McGinnis Porter, a Governor’s Office spokeswoman, said there were also six additional deaths from the virus. All of the deceased were hospitalized, but only two had underlying conditions. They were:
• Two men in their 60s from Bernalillo County, one of whom was a resident of Princeton Place in Albuquerque;
• A woman in her 60s, a man in his 40s and a man in his 80s from Doña Ana County; and
• A woman in her 50s from Luna County.
There have now been 1,088 deaths related to the virus statewide.
Most of the new cases were reported in Bernalillo County, with a record high of 342, and Doña Ana County, which had 262. There were also 96 cases in Santa Fe County, 67 in Sandoval, 66 in Valencia and 51 in Curry.
McGinnis Porter said the Roswell Correctional Center reported an additional 48 cases among inmates.
Currently, 402 people are hospitalized with the virus, and both general beds and ICU beds in New Mexico hospitals are at 77% occupancy.
The Governor’s Office also revised the public health order to clarify that funeral homes are not “houses of worship” and that they’re subject to the state’s ban on large gatherings.
The revision comes after a Las Cruces funeral home planned to hold a service for a COVID-19 victim that other infected people were expected to attend.
Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said the change in the public health order was targeted specifically at funeral homes and not at houses of worship, which are still allowed to hold in-person services with a maximum 40% capacity.
“You can still have a funeral service at a house of worship, though it’s not advised,” Stelnicki told the Journal.
As cases rise farther north, in Sandoval County, Rio Rancho plans on closing City Hall – starting at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9 until further notice – “out of an abundance of caution” and to reduce stress on the health-care system.
The announcement comes days after Rio Rancho shut down its police headquarters and municipal courthouse.
“Other city facilities will remain open in a limited capacity or have altered services,” a city spokeswoman said. “During this time, city personnel will still provide services to citizens electronically or by phone.
Other city services, such as emergency services, road repair and maintenance, utilities billing and development services-related will continue to be fully operational.”
New Mexico has now seen a total of 52,394 COVID-19 cases and, of those, 22,811 are designated as having recovered by the New Mexico Department of Health.
