After the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations across the state increased by 90% in the past two weeks, New Mexico Democratic Governor Michelle Grisham announced a temporary indoor mask directive.
Grisham announced the mission in a live video broadcast on Tuesday night. The directive applies to everyone in the state two years of age or older, regardless of vaccination status. It takes effect on August 20 (Friday) and will last until September 20 (Monday) at the earliest.
In addition to the authorization, Grisham also announced mandatory vaccination for all personnel working in nursing facilities and schools. Although the state will grant religious or medical exemptions, exempted workers still need to provide a negative COVID test once a week to be allowed to work.
Grisham said: “If the COVID cases in New Mexico get out of control, we will not be able to continue our economic recovery and positive economic journey.” “We will use masks and vaccines to slow the spread of COVID and see if we can’t rebalance Our status as a state, especially considering the Delta variant.”
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She pointed out that state hospitals have increased by nearly 90% in the past two weeks. Two weeks ago, there were a total of 180 COVID-related hospitalizations in Jeonju Hospital. As of August 16, this number had jumped to 341, an increase of 89.4%.
Since the beginning of July, there has been a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases in the state. On July 1, 87 cases were reported in the state. On August 16, 1,771 cases were reported. These two figures represent an increase of 1935%.
The governor said that the recent increase in cases is mainly due to the highly contagious delta variant. She also said that the state lacks medical staff in different care settings, and they can withstand the sudden increase in COVID-19 patients.
“We are in a terrible position in terms of health care services and protection of our health care workers, and because of the speed of the spread of COVID, too many New Mexicans will die again or suffer from long-term chronic diseases,” Grisham said.
In the live Q&A session, Grisham refuted Republicans’ claims that the increase in infections was caused by infected immigrants entering the United States through the southern border.
“I disagree that the risk factor in New Mexico is at the border,” she said. “The risk factor here is that too many New Mexicans are not vaccinated, too many New Mexicans refuse and do not wear masks, too many New Mexicans engage in high-risk activities, and even deliberately contract COVID, which may not have any symptoms and spread. This really is The root of the problem here.”
Weekly newspaper Grisham’s office was contacted for comments, but did not respond in time for publication.
