Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Most offices will close until Dec. 7
CLOVIS – As COVID-19 cases continue to soar across the region and the state, Curry County on Wednesday night announced plans to close its offices to the public starting next week through early December.
“The County is taking these steps to assist with increasing social distancing efforts, limit gatherings and mitigate the spread within our community,” County Manager Lance Pyle said in a news release.
“During this time County personnel will provide services to (the) public electronically, by phone or by appointments and services will be limited. Other County services, such as emergency services, detention, roads, maintenance and DWI/Misdemeanor compliance will continue to be fully operational while following COVID-19 Safe Practices.”
The county has reported more than 300 positive cases of the coronavirus in the past week. On Wednesday, the county reported 39 new cases while the state had a single-day record 1,500 new cases.
State officials reported 14 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the pandemic total to 1,158. The Health Department reported 481 people are hospitalized in New Mexico with covid-related illnesses, the most in a single day since the pandemic began in March.
“The spike in hospitalizations comes as medical leaders warn they may have to treat patients in MASH-style units if the trend continues and invoke other crisis standards of care,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The Texas Panhandle also is seeing a surge in covid cases. The city of Lubbock on Tuesday announced it will be erecting “mobile medical tents” outside University Medical Center and Covenant Health starting this week.
Clovis schools this week announced Mesa Elementary School will return to “remote learning mode” starting Thursday due to staff shortages created by COVID-19. Portales Public Library also closed this week, until further notice, due to covid exposure concerns.
Curry County closed its Treasurer’s Office on Monday after an employee tested positive for the virus.
Other county offices will close at 5 p.m. Friday and won’t plan to reopen until Dec. 7.
“We recognize the inconvenience, but if we can do our part, we hope that our businesses and school districts can safely remain open and we can protect our residents,” Pyle said in the news release.
