Governor reports ‘good news,’ sets target for virus cases (NM Dem Gov. sets low rate but have increasing tests)

The Albuquerque Journal ^ | August 13, 2020 | Dan Boyd and Dan McKay

[CedarDave]

SANTA FE — Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Thursday the coronavirus pandemic is far from whipped, despite a recent drop in new virus cases statewide that prompted the governor to say New Mexico was “beating all of our neighbors.”

With the state’s COVID-19 test positivity rate having recently dropped well below 3% — the lowest in the southwest region — the governor said some business restrictions could be gradually relaxed in the coming month, though she did not offer any guarantees.

When it comes to public schools, the governor said her administration would be cautious in deciding whether students can resume in-person learning after Labor Day. Some districts have already announced plans to use a distance learning model even beyond that date.

“We’re going to go really slow because I know, based on the data, we can’t guarantee that (the coronavirus) doesn’t get in,” Lujan Grisham said, referring to virus outbreaks in school settings ... in other states.

The governor’s Thursday news conference came as New Mexico moves closer to meeting the criteria established by the Lujan Grisham administration to determine when it’s safe to reopen more of the economy.

New Mexico now meets every standard but one — the average number of new virus cases each day.

The state added that requirement earlier this summer but didn’t set a specific numerical target until Thursday — of 168 cases a day.

The state is closing in on that figure: The seven-day rolling average now stands at 174 new cases a day, according to a Journal analysis. The average has plunged 47% over the past two weeks.

Lujan Grisham described the trend as “good news” but said the state’s reopening criteria must be sustained over time.

“We want to keep lowering those cases,” she said.

[CedarDave]

It's no longer about keeping hospital beds available for covid-19 cases (as of Wednesday 128 individuals were hospitalized for the virus), it's about keeping the economy locked down and using the lockdown to blame Trump. Here's some statistics to show how NM is doing and why it's time to untie the government ropes. The new daily case total goal is 168:

Click the link for the daily graph:
https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/2080450/

[ChicagoConservative27]

“We’re going to go really slow because I know, based on the data, we can’t guarantee that (the coronavirus) doesn’t get in,” Lujan Grisham said, referring to virus outbreaks in school settings ... in other states.

PLEASE SHOW US THIS DATA.

[Socon-Econ]

Republicans need to demand an audit of the virus case data using a meaningful definition of what constitutes a case.

[LaRueLaDue]

This equating of “positive” Wuhan Flu tests (ignoring the differences between the different types of tests) with actually being diagnosed with it and under treatment in the hospital, as that is what actually counts here, is ludicrous and illogical. And it is being done by our “betters” in governments at all levels, everywhere.

Since no one is really questioning this in the press or elsewhere, I guess we really are that stupid...

We are being massively played here.