COVID-19

Three years ago we saw a global shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. New Mexico took an aggressive approach to public safety with mask mandates, limitations on business capacities and public gatherings. Yet a new report shows the state had one of the highest death rates from COVID. Researchers found states with higher rates of poverty, lower levels of educational attainment, lower levels of interpersonal trust, and worse access to quality health care tended to have worse outcomes.

New Mexico is one of just five states that has kept its COVID-19 public health emergency order in effect. It was set to expire Friday but the governor announced it will stay in place for the rest of the month — the last of 41 extensions since March, 2020.

At a news conference Thursday, Acting New Mexico Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said he keeps track of how long COVID has been around in his journal, and that this week New Mexico hit day 1,000 as challenges persist. Cases are up, PCR testing is becoming less accessible and indoor masking is recommended in several counties.

Election season is in full swing and voters on the Navajo Nation will decide either to re-elect President Jonathon Nez to the seat, or make history by electing his challenger––Buu Nygren–– who could be the youngest ever to hold the position.

November 8th marks the date for the U.S. midterm elections, but it’s also when the Navajo Nation will pick its next president. New Mexico in Focus Correspondent Antonia Gonzales with our media partner New Mexico PBS sat down with current Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez to discuss his last four years in office, and ask why Navajo residents should put their trust in him to lead them out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham praised President Biden’s pledge this week to codify abortion protections in federal law if the Democrats secure a majority in congress. She characterized the move as a commitment to “echo” the work being done here in New Mexico, and tells KUNM she "absolutely" would pursue codifying the right to an abortion in state law if reelected.

Though the death rate in rural America has decreased since the end of September, it is still significantly higher than in urban areas.

A few of the states with the most home births are in the Mountain West, and the region also includes two states that saw some of the country's largest increases from 2019 to 2020.

Resources for those impacted by COVID-19

Source New Mexico's Austin Fisher speaks with Julia Goldberg of the Santa Fe Reporter about rising COVID cases in New Mexico and the lack of public messaging from the Department of Health.