Dear Ms. Webb:

I heard your message to Grant County residents today, Saturday, April 25. You said that COVID infections were on the rise in Grant County; that we should continue to stay at home, especially to protect our health care workers; and made a plea that Grant County should take this seriously. I thought at first it was an outdated message until you mentioned the Governor's extension to May 15.

Wondering what I had missed, I immediately pulled up the New Mexico Department of Health website I check almost daily: https://cv.nmhealth.org/cases-by-county. I was surprised to see that cases in Grant County remain at 14, which it has been for at least a week, so your claim that cases in Grant County are on the rise is absolutely untrue. Additionally, there hasn't been anyone hospitalized at Gila Regional for COVID-19 as far as I know.

There are many people in Grant County who are well aware of the numbers. We have been dutiful in following stay-at-home, only one person going out for essentials, and social distancing – but how can we take you seriously when you are misleading with lies and instilling fear with messages like the one you gave on the radio? The people in our community are not foolish. We are informed. The one thing worse than being uninformed is being misinformed.

I have lived in Grant County for almost 8 years and have been a New Mexico resident for almost 40. If you want people to take you seriously, change your messaging and be truthful. Remember, you work for us.

A concerned Grant County resident,

Diane LeBlanc