An understaffed Department of Health provided its last media COVID-19 briefing on June 8th. Since then, 100 more New Mexicans have died from the disease, over 2000 since January. In sharp contrast, DOH shows nearly one-tenth (197) as many Pneumonia and Flu deaths combined from October 1, 2021 to May 15, 2022.
Informed by the years long pandemic, a panel looking to shape the big picture of public health in New Mexico is zeroing in on knocking down barriers to care and health, tackling systemic racism and climate change.
As the second holiday weekend in two weeks arrives, New Mexicans face fresh challenges calculating COVID-19 risk. By CDC standards, New Mexico has a surge of cases higher than last summer, without a mask mandate, managed by an understaffed Department of Health that provides irregular updates as hospitalizations and deaths increase.