The New Mexico Department of Health announced the bi-weekly updated statewide COVID-19 map on Wednesday and 20 New Mexico counties at the Turquoise Level and three at the Green Level. Guess whose not in either of those categories? That’s right, Bernalillo County. Now the majority of the state is at Turquoise or Green. The even better news is that no counties are in the red.
Twelve counties advanced to a less restrictive level since the most recent biweekly map update: Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Curry, Eddy, Harding, Lincoln, Mora, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Taos and Torrance. Three counties, meanwhile, regressed to the Yellow Level; San Juan and Hidalgo regressed from Turquoise to Yellow, and Guadalupe regressed from Green to Yellow.
The state’s county-by-county system uses key health metrics – the per-capita daily incidence of new COVID-19 cases and average COVID-19 test positivity within county borders – to determine the level of public health risk and requirement for each county. A county that meets one criterion may operate at the Yellow Level; a county that meets both may operate at the Green Level. A county that has met both for two consecutive biweekly map updates may operate at the Turquoise Level.
Counties that met both of the health metric thresholds for two consecutive biweekly map updates and can operate at the Turquoise Level as of April 7 are: Catron, Chaves, Colfax, Curry, De Baca, Eddy, Lea, Lincoln, Los Alamos, McKinley, Mora, Rio Arriba, Roosevelt, Santa Fe, Sierra, Socorro, Taos, Torrance, Quay and Union.
Counties that met both of the health metric thresholds and can operate at the Green Level as of April 7 are Cibola, Harding and San Miguel.
Counties that met one of the health metric thresholds and can operate at the Yellow Level as of April 7 are Bernalillo, Dona Ana, Grant, Guadalupe, Hidalgo, Luna, Otero, Sandoval, San Juan and Valencia.
Please, please, please mask up, sign up for the vaccine and stay safe. Let’s meet here again in two weeks and maybe the grass will be a little bit greener.