SANTA FE – A private high school in Albuquerque has closed after someone associated with the school came into contact with someone infected with COVID-19.
Albuquerque Academy announced Wednesday the suspension of classes at its campus in the city’s Northeast Heights at least through the March 20 start of spring break.
State health officials have confirmed four positive tests for the new coronavirus, including a woman in her 70s in the Albuquerque area who traveled to New York City. Other infections included a couple in their 60s from Socorro County who recently returned from Egypt and a Santa Fe County woman who had visited New York.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has declared a public health emergency and canceled public events that are under her authority where the virus might spread through crowds.
The Gathering of Nations on Wednesday announced indefinite postponement of its April 23-25 Pow Wow, an annual Native American cultural event., and the school district for Las Cruces, the state’s second most populous city, announced cancellation of athletic games, tournaments and musical performances.
This year’s Bataan Memorial Death March event that typically draws thousands of military members and veterans to White Sands Missile Range was canceled. A popular statewide basketball tournament continued into the night Wednesday without interruption at a university arena in Albuquerque, though the governor advised against attending.
Court administrators announced precautions Wednesday evening designed to protect trial juries from potential exposure to possible infection, limiting jury-selection pools to 25 people. Judges will postpone civil jury trials while criminal proceedings continue.
The state has opened a medical hotline to help people assess symptoms and seek out care with precautions against new transmission. Nonessential state workers have been instructed to work from home if possible to reduce the chance of exposure.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.
More than 80,000 people in China have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. More than 61,000 have recovered.
