As it happened: Gov. Lujan Grisham details new COVID-19 rules for restaurants and churches
Algernon D'AmmassaSANTA FE - New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham hosted a news conference via video stream from the state Capitol building in Santa Fe Thursday, providing details about new COVID-19 public health orders taking effect Saturday, including new rules for church congregations and indoor dining at restaurants.
The conference also included updates on COVID-19 transmission in the state and the state's gating criteria guiding decisions about reopening business activity and adjusting restrictions.
Below is a live blog of the conference as it happened.
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3:02 p.m. The conference has started promptly but there appears to be no sound. Slides indicate the state is announcing 190 new cases, 68 hospitalizations with 16 on ventilators, and 9 new deaths.
Ah, the sound has clicked on at 3:04 p.m.
3:05 p.m. State Human Services Secretary begins speaking but his microphone does not appear to be on. Scrase says that across the state, the seven-day rolling average is down to 118 new cases per day. The southeastern counties and Doña Ana County remain areas of concern as far as new daily cases.
The highest age group for COVID-19 infection by far is in the 20-29 age range, at 20.1 percent of the total.
Scrase repeats his warning to families to get physicals and immunizations done and prepare to plan on getting a flu shot. Do not avoid preventative care for fear of COVID-19 conditions at medical facilities.
While there is no approved COVID-19 vaccine in place yet, Scrase says the state is coordinating already with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on plans for distribution and storage of a vaccine when it becomes available assuming it is ready early in 2021. Dosages are anticipated to be limited and will initially be restricted to populations with the highest vulnerability.
Scrase turns to the topic of face masks, which are still required in public in New Mexico. He repeats a warning that masks with valves or vents are not recommended by the state or by CDC. Face shields, he says, are for eye protection and not to be used as a substitute for masks as they do little to control respiratory droplets that spread the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
3:20 p.m. New Mexico continues to do well as far as meeting gating criteria to qualify for more easing of public health restrictions, Scrase says. On the natinoal "How we reopen safely" website, www.CovidExitStrategy.org, New Mexico remains yellow.
The spread rate in New Mexico is stable, with a rate below 1 new infections per case (meaning each person with COVID-19 is, on average, currently infecting less than one person, which exceeds a state goal.)
The state is processing more than 5,000 tests per day, and the test positive rate is at 3.4 percent, well below the 5 percent threshold.
3:29 p.m. A majority of counties now meet criteria for allowing appointments to visit residents at long-term care facilities, Scrase reports, because they are under 8 average daily cases per 100,000.
'We want to be really careful'
With reopening, Scrase continues to recommend a phased approach based on New Mexicans complying with public health guidance well enough to continue the recent downward trend. "We want to be really careful," he says. "We want to do those things that we know will work."
This comes with a warning about Labor Day weekend. Social gatherings present a risk for community spread. "Have good plans, make safe plans, keep it small and do the things we know have worked in the past," Scrase says. That means maintaining six feet of distance, avoiding large gatherings and wearing face masks over the nose and mouth.
3:34 p.m. The governor is wearing a "Smokey Bear" face mask today to commemorate firefighters battling wildfires in the state.
Amended public health order details
Details of the new public health order, going into effect Saturday:
- Houses of worship may operate at 40 percent capacity indoors.
- Food and drink establishments are cleared to provide indoor service at 25 percent of fire code capacity and outdoor dining at 75 percent.
- Museums with static displays may open at 25 percent capacity.
- Mass gatherings are now allowed up to 10 individuals. Gatherings of more than 10 are prohibited.
- Businesses are urged to be extra diligent with the loosening of restrictions to avoid a new surge in cases.
Lujan Grisham urges customers to "do your part" to avoid forcing new restrictions on businesses later.
"I can't make New Mexicans, even with the enforcement tools we have, follow these safeguards unless you're willing to do them," she says.
3:46 p.m. Turning to public schools, state Education Secretary Ryan Stewart says that students' and staff members' health and safety is a priority in making decisions about resuming in-person learning, even though there is "no substitute" for the latter.
The requirements for resuming classroom instruction include New Mexico continuing to meet gating criteria and that the county is in a "green zone" measuring new daily case averages and test positivity rates.
School sites and districts have been required to submit re-entry plans for approval by the Public Education Department detailing instruction, services for social-emotional learning and communication with families. Additionally, schools must have supplies of cleaning products and personal protective equipment, cleaning schedules and rapid response plans in the event of infections.
3:50 p.m. "The vast majority of our state is in the green zone, which is great," Stewart says, referring to the map of counties meeting criteria for safely opening schools Sept. 8. "The more we can wear masks, the more that we can practice social distancing ... we can turn more of these red counties to green. ... We are only bringing students back that are in these green zones."
3:58 p.m. Plans for closing schools to respond to COVID-19 infections vary based on whether cases are isolated to one classroom or a building wing. If there are multiple cases across a school building, the school will be closed.
"We have a big challenge in front of us," Stewart says, because of the complexities of each school site and opportunities for risk. Remote learning is also to be made available for families who do not return their children to in-person school right away.
Stewart also acknowledges that gaps still exist for many students when it comes to remote learning, including broadband access in many parts of the state.
It underscores one of the major challenges schools face in devising its COVID-19 response: Whatever the plan is, schools are legally obligated to provide equitable access to all children in New Mexico, including students with special needs.
Scrase says the modeling team has been focused on scenarios pertaining to school reopening. "Safe school reopenings occur in COVID-safe places," he says, referring back to the new heat map of average daily cases and test positivity by county. There are six counties in the red, including Hidalgo and five southeastern counties bordering Texas. Luna and Curry counties are both yellow. All other counties are green or safe.
4:05 p.m. Before taking questions, Lujan Grisham again comments that states were left on their own to respond to the pandemic in the absence of a coordinated federal response.
"We know that students and parents ... are really anxious to return to in-person learning," she says before reiterating they are not mandating schools resume in-person learning right away, noting some school districts have already voted to forestall returning to school buildings.
"It is all really good news," the governor says, "but the virus is still here," and she stresses that as winter approaches more activity will be moving indoors. "We've got to get the indoor part right," she says.
4:18 p.m. Scrase said that recent fluctuations between high and low daily case counts reflect, in part, some recent issues with automated data transfers from labs, and reminds a reporter he looks at test positive rates and seven-day rolling averages for a more reliable picture of how the virus is moving throughout the state.
Stewart takes questions about the school reopening plans, which prioritizes younger students who are in greatest need of in-person connection earlier in their development.
The secretary says that modeling and thresholds are designed in ways to avoid situations where schooling may need to be closed if cases surge in a county, based on longer trends, in order to avoid "yo-yoing" between opening and closing schools.
Planning for a vaccine
4:29 p.m. Lujan Grisham again stresses the need for New Mexicans to be vaccinated for flu and to make sure children are current on mandatory vaccinations for school and that confidence in COVID-19 vaccination will be a matter of debate when it is available.
Scrase notes that it is not yet known what the efficacy or side effects will be for any COVID-19 vaccine and said the state would rely on public education rather than mandates to promote vaccination. He says he himself will be in line for the vaccine when it is ready.
Stewart says about a third of the state's charter schools have had their re-entry plans approved by the PED.
4:47 p.m. The governor and Stewart both say school districts voting to postpone in-person learning through 2020 are doing their best with difficult and complicated decisions, and expresses sympathy for parents who are not working from home and are figuring out how to provide child care while working.
Regarding supply chains for medical-grade and non-medical PPE, as fall and winter approach and more activity moves indoors, schools plan for re-entry and business restrictions are loosened, Lujan Grisham says she feels confident that commercial markets are now able to provide steady supplies compared to the early months of the crisis.
"Today, with the amount of PPE the state has in its stockpile and the system that we use to evaluate burn rates, where is it, who do we give it to, how much is left and how much is coming in, I have a high degree of confidence that New Mexico is in a very good spot" for public supplies of PPE, the governor says.
Scrase agrees, and notes that federally approved decontamination services for cleaning and reusing PPE are in wide use in New Mexico.
"I wish the supply chain had responded as efficiently with lab testing equipment as it had with the masks and PPE," he remarks.
4:52 p.m. Between a third and a half of New Mexico's cases have been asymptomatic, Scrase says, after the governor expresses the state's disagreement with recent guidance from the CDC that suggests individuals who are not showing symptoms of COVID-19 do not need to get tested.
Lujan Grisham reiterates that testing is available for free to New Mexicans.
5:00 p.m. Meow Wolf and escape rooms are not included in the loosening of restrictions for museums that go into effect Saturday.
Places of lodging are still limited to 50 percent of their maximum capacity.
The mask requirement remains in place, requiring face coverings in public settings except when eating or drinking, indoors and outdoors.
Quarantine requirements for travelers from out of state remain in place.
Read the full text here:
Nine deaths announced Thursday
5:03 p.m. During the conference, the state Department of Health announced nine new deaths associated with COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 764 to date.
- A male in his 70s from Bernalillo County. The individual was hospitalized and was a resident of the Las Palomas Center in Albuquerque.
- A female in her 80s from Bernalillo County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of Spanish Trails Rehabilitation Suites in Albuquerque.
- A female in her 60s from Cibola County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A female in her 70s from Doña Ana County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions. The individual was a resident of the Welbrook Senior Living Las Cruces facility in Las Cruces.
- A male in his 50s from Lea County. The individual was hospitalized.
- A female in her 70s from McKinley County. The individual had underlying conditions.
- A male in his 70s from Rio Arriba County. The individual was hospitalized.
- A male in his 60s from San Juan County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
- A female in her 60s from Santa Fe County. The individual was hospitalized and had underlying conditions.
A total of 24,920 cases have been confirmed since March, out of 740,366 tests. The DOH has designated 12,446 cases as recovered, and the actual number is likely higher, since individuals do not always stay in touch with DOH through the process.
On that note, Lujan Grisham pleads with New Mexicans to answer the phone when the DOH calls.
5:23 p.m. While the conference is still in progress, the state Republican Party issues a statement asking on what scientific basis the specific capacity limits for church attendance and indoor service were derived, calling the limits "arbitrary" and unfair to restaurants and asserting, "There’s no 'science' to choosing this number."
Chairman Steve Pearce comments in the party's statement that the governor has "been pushing the envelope on what’s legal and constitutional throughout this economic crisis," but just yesterday the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously to vindicate the administration's authority to restrict indoor dining in a public health emergency.
As Justice Judith Nakamura announced the decision from the bench, she said: "It's well established that differing opinions does not make an action arbitrary and capricious."
Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.