Coronavirus cases climbed in recent days in Santa Fe County and New Mexico, making it clear the disease won’t relent in the near future — if there were any doubt.
Local and state health authorities warned another spike could be on the way, especially with chilly weather coming. Dr. Wendy Johnson, chief medical officer at La Familia Medical Center in Santa Fe, expressed disappointment in the lack of vigilance she sees.
“We’re not following the guidelines anymore,” Johnson said of local residents.
State data indicated Santa Fe County had 59 new cases Friday, up from 31 at the same point in October and 21 in early September.
Even with a comparatively high vaccination rate of 83 percent in Santa Fe County, that leaves 20,000 or more unvaccinated or not fully vaccinated, Johnson said.
People gather now at birthday parties, theaters and other entertainment spots, she said, letting down their guard at a time when the disease’s intensity is picking up.
“Our restaurants are packed,” she said.
Statistics, anecdotal evidence and expert observation indicate the situation has worsened in New Mexico. Dr. Laura Parajon, deputy Cabinet secretary in the state Department of Health, said people should stick to the defense tactics that work.
“I think we do have to go back to the basics,” Parajon said Friday. “Yes, we are very concerned.”
Parajon and others said it’s not completely clear why the spike is taking place.
“That’s the big question,” Parajon said. “I think just in general, we’re all tired of the pandemic, right?” Many people have let up against the disease.
Santa Fe Public Schools reported that at least three staff members and 34 students tested positive this week for COVID-19.
Those included seven students at Wood Gormley Elementary School, and a staff member and six students at Acequia Madre Elementary School. Five of the student cases at Acequia Madre may have been contracted within the school, according to the district.
Nursing homes and assisted living centers statewide recorded a total of 294 cases among residents Thursday, up from 248 Oct. 4, data showed. The numbers were negligible in Santa Fe facilities — five, including staffers, down from 13 in early October.
At Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, patients being treated for issues other than COVID-19 have populated the institution, and the hospital is “seeing our COVID numbers leveling off,” spokesman Arturo Delgado wrote in an email. “As of this morning, our team was caring for 13 COVID patients and we have the capacity for additional patients.”
Presbyterian Healthcare Services spokeswoman Melanie Mozes said her system had 124 patients with COVID-19 throughout its nine hospitals statewide, including six at Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center and four at the hospital in Española.
Theresa Valerio, chief nurse executive at Presbyterian Española Hospital, said in a written statement: “Like other hospitals across the state, we have COVID patients as well as many patients with serious conditions in our facility. COVID-19 cases have plateaued but unfortunately are not dropping as quickly as we would like.”
The key points that have been stressed for months, Parajon said, remain relevant — getting vaccinated, obtaining booster shots if eligible, washing hands, distancing, wearing masks and avoiding large groups.
Farmington’s San Juan Regional Medical Center issued a “crisis standards of care” alert this week, meaning it would direct staff, space and supplies to confront the coronavirus “disaster.” The state and federal governments have deployed a total of 63 physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists and other personnel to assist the hospital.
“We’re over full,” hospital spokeswoman Laura Werbner said. The hospital is at 129 percent of capacity in its intensive care unit and 107 percent in the rest of the facility, Werbner said. It had about 75 coronavirus-positive patients Nov. 1, up from about 55 Oct. 16.
In the seven days ending Thursday, the state Health Department reported 7,137 new coronavirus cases, up from 4,970 in the same period last month and 699 in the same period in June.
Parajon and Johnson said the delta variant of the disease, which began to dominate in the late spring and summer, is another element that escalates numbers. The variant is far more contagious than the strain that preceded it, Johnson said, and creates high viral loads that increase the chances the patient will suffer symptoms and transmit it to others.
Parajon said this isn’t a crisis from which health care professionals can extricate society. “It’s about our community coming together,” she said. “This isn’t something we can do alone.”
