New Mexico holds moment of silence for state’s 7K+ COVID-19 deaths

New Mexico Health and Human Services Secretary David Scrase on Friday held a moment of silence to remember the 7,050 people who have died from COVID-19 in the southwestern state since the pandemic’s start. 

The somber two-year anniversary came as the state’s health officials reported a major slow-down in case rates and hospitalizations. However, health officials cautioned that COVID-19 is still a serious illness and that New Mexico must be prepared for another variant, The Associated Press reported.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen next. We don’t know what to expect for sure but we are getting ready,” Scrase said, according to the AP, mentioning the historical reference of the influenza pandemic over a century ago. “You don’t know that it’s over until it’s really over.”

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) on March 11, 2020 declared a public health emergency that ordered the majority of state employees to begin working remotely and residents to avoid traveling or gathering to mitigate viral spread, the AP noted.

Two years later, the AP reports that 25 percent of New Mexicans have been infected with COVID-19. 

Of the COVID-19 cases reported in the past month, 56 percent of infections were among vaccinated people.

However, 78 percent of New Mexicans are fully vaccinated. This means that the proportionate number of those with breakthrough cases is significantly lower than that of the unvaccinated. 

Only 22 percent of the state is unvaccinated, but despite being only roughly one fifth of the population, the unvaccinated comprise of 44 percent of all total COVID-19 infections in New Mexico in the past four weeks.

The unvaccinated also make up higher percentages of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations, the AP noted.

In recent days, however, cases have dramatically decreased, and New Mexico has relaxed many public health restrictions, such as indoor mask mandates.