In the last week, there have been 72 new COVID-19 cases in Rio Arriba County, and there have been 85 total deaths due to COVID-19 in the County as of Nov 5.
County Health Director Lauren Reichelt said she had seen an uptick of cases since schools reopened.
“I would certainly call it an uptick,” she said. “There have been a few specific isolated outbreaks in residential facilities. What we’re seeing happening is the kids are back in school and the kids are unvaccinated.”
Reichelt said there had been issues getting kids aged 12 to 18 vaccinated, and that the push to get younger children had not even started yet.
“Most people I know who caught it even though they’re vaccinated caught it from their children,” Reichelt said.
The County is in the process of setting up vaccine clinics at schools. Reichelt said that most of the shots will be happening next week with the boosters coming three weeks after that. Currently, the County and schools were in the process of sending out permission slips.
There is a vaccination clinic at Northern New Mexico College on Nov. 13, where children will be eligible to be vaccinated.
“If you want to get your 5- to 11-year-old vaccinated before I can set up the elementary clinics, please do it. Don’t wait,” Reichelt said.
Interim superintendent Vera Trujillo said they were working with the County to get ready for vaccinations and that during the next School Board meeting they were presenting a proposal for COVID-19 testing that would allow kids to return to school once they tested negative reducing the need for group quarantine.
“Our kids have been out of classrooms for 18 months and there’s been a lot of learning loss. The best way to support them is with a teacher in a classroom,” Trujillo said. “Our children need to be with their peers. They need that emotional support. We all want our children back in schools, as safe as they can be.”
McCurdy Charter School Director Sarah Tario said that the school was working remote last week but as of Monday they were back in class.
“We had a really high percentage of students who tested positive,” Tario said. “More COVID cases than we’ve had the entire pandemic. If you look at the numbers statewide, we’re higher now than we’ve been in a long time. The most affected were in our elementary school who are unvaccinated. Obviously, the issue is they take that home and have had breakthrough cases.”
Española City Manager Xavier Martinez did not return several calls from the Sun to ask about the city’s current COVID-19 situation.
In a Nov. 8 email, he wrote that the only department working remotely is the City Clerk’s Office. In response to a question about whether there are increasing cases among city employees, Martinez wrote, “Not so much.” He said they are following current New Mexico Department of Health guidelines.
Reichelt said she expected case numbers to tick up over the winter like it did last year.
“Rio Arribans who are eligible, we can’t really do better than what we have done,” Reichelt said. “Where we have real room for improvement is 12- to-18-year-olds. It’s kids aged 5-to-18 who are catching it and spreading it. We can’t possibly get them vaccinated quickly enough.”