Hospitalizations rise amid NM's latest COVID-19 wave

Aug. 5—SANTA FE — New Mexico's newest wave of COVID-19 infections continued to swell Thursday, with virus-related hospitalizations surging to more than three times higher than they were one month ago.

Driven in large part by the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus, New Mexico hospitalizations have increased from 62 people on July 6 to 207 hospitalized statewide as of Thursday, according to Department of Health data.

In addition, New Mexico has recorded nearly as many new COVID-19 cases in the last three days — a total of 1,758 cases — as it did during a month-long period in late June and early July.

"My concern level is very high," state Human Services Secretary David Scrase said Thursday.

He said many hospitals in New Mexico are already full, though not just with patients battling COVID-19, and said the statewide test positivity rate for the virus has increased to 7% over the last week.

"We already know we're going to lose control of this pandemic if the test positivity rate goes up (even more)," said Scrase, who is also acting secretary of the Department of Health.

However, Scrase expressed optimism the state's elevated COVID-19 vaccine administration rate could help prevent the state's virus growth from reaching peak levels from last year.

An overwhelming majority of the state's virus cases, hospitalizations and deaths since February have occurred in unvaccinated individuals, according to DOH data. And Scrase said vaccinated individuals who test contract COVID-19 often display mild or no symptoms.

But he urged state residents feeling virus-like symptoms to get tested for COVID-19 and said the state is ready to perform large-scale testing events at schools statewide.

Meanwhile, New Mexico passed another COVID-19 vaccine milestone Thursday, as state health officials announced more than half of the state's children between the ages of 12 and 17 have received at least one vaccine dose.

Statewide, a total of 73.6% of New Mexicans age 18 and older had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 65.2% had gotten all shots necessary to be fully vaccinated, according to state Department of Health data.

Among those between the ages of 12 and 17, who were not eligible to get the vaccine until May, 51% had gotten at least one dose and 39.6% had completed their vaccine series as of Thursday.

Children younger than 12 are still not able to get vaccinated, though some health officials have said they expect federal approval for such a vaccine expansion to be granted by the end of this year.

"There is no question: vaccination is the best tool we have to protect ourselves and our loved ones from COVID-19," state Health Deputy Secretary Laura Parajon said in a statement.

The vaccine progress — and increased virus infection rates — come as most New Mexico students are set to return to school for a new academic year.

It's also renewed debate about vaccine and face mask mandates, as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has imposed a requirement that all state workers get vaccinated or undergo bi-weekly testing for COVID-19.

Such mandates have prompted criticism from some Republican lawmakers like Sen. Gregg Schmedes, R-Tijeras, who has argued natural immunity from recovering from COVID-19 is a better defense than being vaccinated, a claim that many public health experts dispute.

Despite the recent spike in cases, New Mexico's death rate from COVID-19 remains far lower than the mid-December peak.

State health officials reported three additional virus-related deaths Thursday, including two men in their 30s who both had underlying health conditions.

The three deaths brought the state's death toll to 4,419 since the pandemic arrived in New Mexico in March 2020.