New Mexico governor says her state is ‘at the mercy of what’s going on around the country’

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said Sunday that her state is “at the mercy of what’s going on around the country.”

Lujan Grisham called the U.S.’s COVID-19 response the “worst abdication” of the “responsibility to protect Americans I’ve ever seen” during an interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

The governor claimed there is “no national strategy” and “no public health investment.” 

“There is no national strategy,” she said. “I still spend most of my days chasing testing supplies for our state. It is the worst abdication of a national response and responsibility to protect Americans I have ever seen in my government career.”

Pressed by @gstephanopoulos whether it’s time for further measures with COVID cases rising, NM Gov Lujan Grisham blasts the federal response: “It is the worst abdication of a national response and responsibility to protect Americans I’ve ever seen.” https://t.co/o405cfh1Ad pic.twitter.com/Hl7Z5kq920

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) July 26, 2020

The New Mexico governor described both the case count and death toll in the state as “way too high,” even after she paused reopening last month. Lujan Grisham attributed the continuing rise to people traveling throughout the country. 

“While we have one of the lowest positivity rates in the country, which we worked diligently at having, what’s going on around the country affects everyone in the country,” she added. “We are moving and traveling.”  

“We are at the mercy of what’s going on around the country,” she said.

Lujan Grisham also attributed the COVID-19 outbreaks in corrections facilities to the movement of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees without testing. 

New Mexico has counted 18,788 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, leading to 2,542 hospitalizations and 607 deaths, according to state data. The state saw its highest single-day increase in new cases on Thursday with 335 recorded.  

The governor blasted Trump in her interview for canceling the GOP convention in Jacksonville, Fla., for safety reasons but continuing to demand that schools reopen “immediately.” 

Lujan Grisham declared last week that classes will remain virtual until at least Sept. 7 as the federal government is encouraging schools to be prepared for in-person instruction in the fall.