As of mid-June, Corrales had 1,216 cases of COVID-19. It seemed like just about every villager you knew had come down with the illness. Statewide, 27,256 had been hospitalized with it, and 7,869 had died. Yet, of those New Mexicans who had come down with it, 512,827 had recovered. In Sandoval County, most of the COVID patients were women, and most were in the 30-39 age group, followed by those aged 20-29.
The Corrales Fire Department’s Tanya Lattin said June 16 the N.M. Department of Health’s data did not indicate how many of the Corrales cases were among those already fully vaccinated, referred to as “breakthrough” cases. Lattin said villagers should not assume they will catch the virus whether they take precautions, and vaccinations, or not. “I do not know that it is inevitable, but studies show each variant of omicron is more infectious, and it appears BA4 and BA5 break through previous omicron infection and vaccine.
“None of my staff has gotten it from work. We have currently only had two cases in the Fire Department, and neither was work related.
“We still have a strict masking policy when interacting with the public.”
Lattin announced at a Village Council meeting last month that she had tested positive.
“Corrales has 65 lab-confirmed cases as of June 17, 2022,” she told Corrales Comment. “The N.M.Department of Health estimates three to seven times higher with home testing. Corrales is averaging 3.82 cases a day for June. In May we had 78 cases.
“It is very important for people who are over 65, or who have at risk conditions, to reach out to a medical professional to get access to early treatment if they end up with COVID. Paxlovid is the tier one treatment and must be started within five days of symptoms.
“With Corrales having a population that is one-third over 65, knowing the signs symptoms and how to get treatment is very important. Symptoms may start with very mild scratchy throat, runny nose or increased tiredness. It is also important to stay up to date with vaccines, as they are proven to reduce hospitalization and death rates.”
Sandoval County and nine other counties are currently listed at high level for COVID. “This means the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends everyone wear a mask indoors in public settings,” Lattin explained.
“We are in the phase where every person needs to assess their risk-rewards benefit. They need to look at people that they see regularly who may be at risk of severe illness and make choices on what they are willing to do based on risks to themselves and others in their lives.
“I still wear an N95 in public settings and will be for a while. We still have vaccination sites in Corrales two days a week, and I still help people navigate registration, COVID questions and where to find treatment options. We also have information on the Village website http://www.corrales-nm.org/fire/page /covid-19-resources-health-and-resilience as well as the state site https://cv.nmhealth.org/.
“We still have at home test kits for people. You can call or stop by the fire station.”