A flood of COVID patients in Lea County is stretching local hospitals to the breaking point. “The scenario we’re facing is a disaster,” said Dan Springer, CEO of Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital. “We have done everything possible to accommodate patients. We’re just completely overwhelmed.” As of midday Tuesday, Covenant Hobbs was “beyond capacity,” Springer told the News-Sun, with 19 patients …

• Weekend vaccination clinics planned for Tasker Arena in Hobbs Lea County hospitals are facing a potential shortage of hospital beds to treat seriously ill patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus. Dan Springer, CEO of Covenant Health Hobbs Hospital, and David Shaw, CEO of Nor-Lea Hospital District in Lovington, addressed the community via live social media press conference Tuesday, urging …

Lea County had 104 new COVID-19 related positive tests on Friday. The Friday figure follows Thursdays when Lea County saw more than 600 cases appear on the state’s tally of COVID-19 in one day. Out of the 612 cases reported Thursday, 331 are considered historical (meaning more than 14 days have passed since the specimen was collected) and should not be …

HOUSTON (AP) — The third wave of COVID-19 in Texas continues to tax the state’s health care systems as 10,000 COVID-19 sufferers have been hospitalized for the first time since early February, state health officials reported. Meantime, local governments and courts continue to chip away at Gov. Greg Abbott’s ban on mask and social distancing mandates as a state district …

SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health reported on Thursday that more than 50% of 12-17 year-olds in the state have received at least a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 40% have completed their vaccination series. The announcement comes amid a wave of new infections connected to the Delta variant, which is 2-4 times more contagious …

SANTA FE – In light of the continued spread of COVID-19 and enhanced viral risk driven by vaccine hesitancy and resistance, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday signed an executive order requiring all state employees to either be fully vaccinated or otherwise submit to regular COVID-19 testing. Under the order, state employees who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 shall …

SANTA FE – Having met the goal of 60 percent of eligible residents completing their COVID-19 vaccination series, the state of New Mexico on Thursday will remove the remaining pandemic occupancy restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activities, including the color-coded county-by-county system. Sixty-two percent of eligible New Mexicans have completed their vaccination series as of Tuesday, according to Department of …

SANTA FE – Having met the goal of 60 percent of eligible residents completing their COVID-19 vaccination series, the state of New Mexico on Thursday will remove the remaining pandemic occupancy restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activities, including the color-coded county-by-county system. Sixty-two percent of eligible New Mexicans have completed their vaccination series as of Tuesday, according to Department of …

SANTA FE – The state of New Mexico confirmed the first prize winners in the Vax 2 the Max Sweepstakes, a $10 million cash sweepstakes funded by federal stimulus and intended to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations. Four vaccinated New Mexicans — one from each public health region of the state — are each confirmed winners of $250,000, as drawn at random by the …

SANTA FE – Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday confirmed New Mexico will retire its color-coded, county-by-county system and all COVID-19 health restrictions on commercial and day-to-day activity in two weeks. At the Turquoise Level, the state is already broadly “open,” and counties where the virus has been sufficiently suppressed have been operating with minimal to no restrictions dating back …