In a press conference this afternoon, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham lifted the mask mandate, effective immediately.  Any mask requirements or guidelines will be up to local decision making.  Individuals will have the option of wearing a mask, if they choose.  The Artesia Public Schools will allow staff, students, families, and guests to make a personal choice to continue wearing a mask or not.

The data, provided by the state, to support their decision is as follows:

• Since January 28, the number of hospitalized New Mexicans has dropped by 37%, down to 446 yesterday.  We now finally have open beds in our hospitals: both general beds and ICU beds.  And while this is still a challenging time for our hospitals and providers, they all tell me that the burden has begun to lighten over the past several weeks.

• New Mexico has been in crisis standards of care, indicating that the pandemic induced burden of disease had outstripped our expanded resources to provide care, since 10/25/2021.  That is almost 4 months!  The Medical Advisory Team has discussed the high likelihood that we will not need to renew that declaration again in a few weeks.

• Three weeks ago, we had only about 30% of the treatments we needed on hand to treat high risk New Mexicans with COVID-19.  Thanks to a new monoclonal antibody treatment that has become available, as well and a growing supply of oral treatments, we are now at the point where we again have the ability to provide treatment for all New Mexicans who require it.

Thank you all for your patience as we have worked through this process.  If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact your student’s school or my office at 575-746-3585.

It’s Great to Be a Bulldog!

John Ross Null, Superintendent