At the January 11 Village Council meeting, Corrales Fire Department Battalion Commander Tanya Lattin gave a longer presentation than usual about COVID-19 in Corrales. Lattin reported an unprecedented spike in COVID cases here. November of  2021was previously the worst month of the pandemic, with a total of 82 positive cases recorded. At the council meeting, Lattin said 45 positive cases had been reported just in the first six days of January.

The resulting case-per-day average jumped from 2.73 in November to 7.5 in those early days of 2022. And that important statistic has continued its upward trajectory. As of Wednesday, January 12, 127 positive cases had been reported in Corrales, resulting in a case-per-day average of 10.6.

As of January 17, the N.M. Department of Health reported Corrales had 808 cases of COVID. In a speech given January 13, President Joe Biden announced that New Mexico will be one of six hard-hit  states to receive a team of federal medical personnel to assist in hospitals.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham put out a press release that same day, saying, “I am grateful to President Biden and our federal partners for their continued support in our ongoing battle against COVID-19, New Mexico health care workers are counting on each and every one of us to do our part to ease their burden —get vaccinated, get boosted, and mask up.”

Back in Corrales, Commander Lattin was frank about the rise in cases, saying, “If I could stay home, I would! Unfortunately, the fire department is busier than it has ever been.”

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And indeed, the other part of her presentation detailed the extraordinary effort the fire department has been making to protect Corrales citizens, and others, from this virus.

As of January 6, the Corrales vaccine site has administered a total of 11,776 vaccines; 1,106 of those vaccines have gone to children ages 5-11.

Lattin emphasized the importance of wearing a good mask, either a KN95 or N95, when going inside a building and even when outside in a crowd.

With the national government offering free at-home tests online at COVIDTESTS.gov as of January 19, Lattin requests that villagers report any positive at-home tests online at nmnotify.com, a confidential mobile application that will notify persons they have been in contact with for 15 minutes or more for a period of two days prior to your positive test. 

In her weekly newsletter, Corrales Mayor Jo Anne Roake gave the following advice, “We all know COVID is rampant and Omicron is sweeping our state, including Corrales.

“The guidance is just plain confusing. But this is clear: if you are vaccinated and boosted you will overwhelmingly get a mild case. If you are not vaccinated you will get sicker, require hospitalization more often, and you even risk death. What a pointless waste of life. Support Corrales: get vaccinated and boosted!”

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