State to keep mask mandate in place for now

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | February 10, 2022 | Ryan Boetel

[CedarDave]

A growing number of states this week announced plans to end or phase out mask mandates, but New Mexico won’t be joining them – at least for now.

Acting Health Secretary Dr. David Scrase said Wednesday his email inbox is brimming with messages “from people essentially demanding an end to the mask mandate.”

But he said the state plans to stay the course with its health orders and isn’t ready to say if they will be extended again.

The current orders – which last week were extended through March 4 – include a mask requirement in indoor public settings.

“We don’t really make decisions in New Mexico, for New Mexicans, based on what other people are doing in other states. We use our own data,” Scrase said during a briefing with reporters. “Believe me, nobody wants to end this more than I do.”

Asked if she was considering relaxing the mask mandate, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Wednesday: “New Mexicans should expect us to reevaluate based on the modeling and the cases going down in short order, and we will do that and announce at the appropriate time the changes to the public health order.”

Though COVID-19 cases are on the decline in the state, they remain high. On Wednesday, New Mexico reported 1,844 new cases and 36 deaths, pushing the statewide toll to 6,597.

Wednesday’s case count is about a third of the number the state was reporting per day last month during the peak of the surge of the highly contagious omicron variant.

Many New Mexico Republicans have used the mask mandates as a point of criticism of Lujan Grisham, a Democrat who is up for reelection this year.

[CedarDave]

Down here in Oil Patch City masks except in schools are mostly off. We are only four miles from the TX state line where masks mostly a thing of the past. Stores may post masks required but many if not most ignore them though employees of chain stores have to keep them on.

[CedarDave]

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[Paladin2]

Stupid anti-Science libtard.

[dsrtsage]

Polling in demonrat states on Karen issues must be super abysmal

[OldWarBaby]

Seems to be a lot of Loohan in NM which reminds me: How is the senator who had the stroke doing? And does he know he is single handedly putting Chuckie Schumer out of bidness?

[Grampa Dave]

Please read my tagline re the mask mandate B$ and pass it on if any of you agree!

[Tijeras_Slim]

As I said on another thread, up north you can’t swing a cat without hitting a Luján.

[redcatcherb412]

Up North 4-corners way you can only find Karen’s and over the border shopping tree-huggers masked up. Most folks said adios to the diapers long ago.

[CedarDave]

Colorado ditched masks in December, and they have a Dem governor.

[webheart]

I have said since the beginning that they have never had this much power before and they weren’t going to give it up that easily. I was way more right than I ever expected. I thought they would have to give it up almost a year ago but they keep finding ways. If they aren’t heralding a new variant they are working on an old variant and hoping for the next variant to jumpstart the fear that helps them retain power. It’s the one third that is staunchly compliant that keeps the rest in line.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

A large state with two densely populated cities, and the rest of which is so sparsely populated that you would need a long-range drone to find your neighbors, and the governor is still requiring masks. SMH.

[Disambiguator]

Or a C de Baca.

[moonhawk]

There’s a mask mandate?