By Hallie Richwine

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham began the December 17, 2020 press conference with the case count information for that day. The death count was the highest to date, and Grisham encouraged New Mexicans to more hard to prevent the spread of the virus.

"While many people will recover," she said, "the likelihood that they have long term effects, including lung disease, is high."

"If we don't bring the prevalence down," she continued, "We will continue to talk about these dire numbers." Grisham said New Mexicans have the ability to change the trajectory and keep the hospitals from being stressed. "Only we have the power to manage this virus."

"We updated the Department of Health map, and this is concerning," she said. "We are going to talk about some good news. But, after two weeks, all thirty-three counties are still in the red zone." Still, she mentioned that the data is better than before the "reset."

"Behavior changes can make a real difference," she said. Lowering the positivity rates in the counties will help the state as a whole. As there are improvements in both case numbers and positivity rates, counties will be able to get in the yellow and green categories. "Yellow and green mean having a little more risk introduced into the communities."

"Even where things were really exponential, we are making the impacts we were desiring for the state through the reset and the red-to-green initiative," she said. "The majority of the state is moving together, and these are the signs we were hoping for."

In moving toward yellow, Grant County reached the lowest positivity rate in the state at 5.6%, very close to the 5% (or less) goal. Luna County cut their new daily case rate by more than 50% over the past two weeks. "Is two weeks enough time to turn things around," Grisham asked. "The answer, unequivocally, is yes."

Dr. Tracie Collins, newly-appointed Secretary of the Department of Health, spoke about vaccines. "I'm excited to announce the Health Department is focused on vaccine distribution," she said. "17,550 Pfizer doses have arrived and have been distributed, including smaller hospitals and three pueblos." Pending FDA approval, New Mexico will also receive doses of a vaccine from Moderna. Those doses are slated for residents and staff in long-term care facilities.

"It's been a rough nine months but this is good news," Collins said. "We're not out of the woods, so please wear masks, keep social distance, and wash your hands."

"We're delighted to have Dr. Collins here," Dr. David Scrase, Secretary of the Department of Human Services said. "She's a great partner in the effort to turn this corner in the pandemic."

"The case curve is declining," Scrase said. "It's a seven day rolling average of case counts, and it's also a six day lag, but there are still great positive effects of the reset. I appreciate the contribution of every New Mexican."

"The hospitals, every one is full but steady," Scrase said. "So many people have delayed care because there's no one available to do it."

Grisham reminded New Mexicans to continue practicing COVID-safe behaviors. "The more we do, the more we are protecting those that are helping save our lives and the lives of the people we love." She said the Medical Advisory Team is working with the hospital systems to find adequate treatments.

"Vaccines, they are here. People are getting them here everyday," Grisham said. "Soon nursing homes and staff will get the vaccine." She said men and women in the military and sovereign nations also will get vaccines. "It's a necessary aspect for us to beat back this pandemic."

"Our behaviors are making me nervous," she said. "I'm nervous about Christmas but we are reviewing our data." She said there continues to be too many new cases daily. "Christmas is an incredible holiday, one that has deep religious meaning and incredible familial traditions that are valuable to each and every one of us, in many different ways."

"I'm asking you to change it up. I want to thank each and every one of you," she continued. "This holiday isn't going to do it for me - it's not what I want, it's not what any of us want." She said the sacrifices we make this holiday season bring the peace of mind that our families remain safe. "It won't be easy."