All but one NM county in turquoise designation

All but one New Mexico county is currently in the most relaxed designation for COVID-19 public health orders. But state officials warn there’s still work to be done.

“The pandemic is not over,” Human Services Secretary David Scrase said during a Wednesday webinar. “The pandemic is not over. The pandemic is not over.”

On June 2, the state will release its next round of county “Red to Green” gating criteria. Every two weeks, the state grades counties on metrics of daily cases of 10 or fewer per 100,000 residents, test positivity of 7.5% or lower and vaccination rates that rise every two weeks; that benchmark will be 50% in two weeks.

Turquoise counties make all three metrics and receive the least restrictive public health orders. Green counties make two metrics, yellow counties make one and red counties make none. Bars and clubs may not operate in yellow counties, and indoor dining is not permitted in red counties.

Counties that make turquoise, which included Curry and Roosevelt on May 5, are only evaluated every four weeks. All but one of the state’s 33 counties are turquoise this week, with Chaves County in the green designation.

However, had the state evaluated all counties this past week, seven of those turquoise counties would no longer be there. Curry and Roosevelt are among the four that would be yellow, while Quay and De Baca would be among the three red.

It seems unlikely Curry or Roosevelt can make all three metrics at the end of the month, given current vaccination numbers. Curry County is at 31.3%, while Roosevelt County is at 29.4%. When asked how the state would help those counties with dipping metrics, Wednesday, Matt Bieber, director of communications for the New Mexico Department of Health, said the department is, “strongly encouraging vaccination — and offering DOH support for setting up events/supporting local outreach efforts.”

Friday saw the state confirm 175 new cases of COVID-19, including four in Curry County and none in Roosevelt County. None of the four deaths reported Friday were from either county.

Also discussed during the Wednesday webinar:

Scrase said there wasn’t really much of a way beyond the honors system to check whether individuals are vaccinated or not. The state on May 14 followed CDC guidance and lifted mask mandates in most circumstances for fully vaccinated individuals.

“Some of these issues have become politicized,” Scrase said. “We don’t want business owners putting themselves in danger. … We don’t want to put business owners as gatekeepers for the public health order.”

Scrase said any attempt to set up a verification system, either through a driver’s license marking or a separate document, would take at least two months to set up with complete buy-in. By that point, Scrase said, it would have little effect.