New Mexico residents have increased some activities to pre-pandemic levels as the state’s COVID-19 restrictions have eased and warmer weather has enticed people outdoors.
Google’s cellphone data showing greater mobility is in line with what state health officials say occurs when constraints are loosened and more businesses and recreation opportunities open to the public.
It’s also raising concerns of increased spread of the illness.
Santa Fe County, touted by state officials as a model for social-distancing practices because of its low number of positive tests for the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, saw its daily numbers of new cases start to rise in May after businesses began reopening.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham issued two recent orders — in mid-May and June 1 — that allow restaurants to offer indoor dining at 50 percent of capacity and other establishments to operate at 25 percent of capacity, including gyms, salons, massage services and houses of worship.
In the two weeks after the partial reopening in mid-May, Santa Fe County added 23 cases of the virus — compared with 13 new cases it logged in the first two weeks of May.
And in the first week of June, the county reported 16 new cases.
Both the Governor’s Office and the state Department of Health said they couldn’t comment on the Google tracking data because they don’t use it in their modeling or research.
But they said the basic trend of people being more active is logical and cause for some concern because they are more at risk of spreading the virus through increased contact with others.
A view of the Plaza in March during the coronavirus lockdown.
Downtown Santa Fe on Wednesday.
“Certainly it would follow that with more reopenings there would be more people out and about,” said Nora Meyers Sackett, the governor’s spokeswoman, in an email. “As we have said and continue to say, frequently, we are concerned if and when there are gatherings or large congregations of people. That is the easiest way for the virus to spread quickly.”
David Morgan, a spokesman for the Department of Health, said it’s understandable for people to be eager to visit state parks and reopened businesses, even with limited customer capacity.
“But it’s important for all of us to remember [that] just because restaurants and gyms are partially open, it doesn’t mean the pandemic is over and everything’s OK,” Morgan said in an email. “The more people we come into contact with daily, the greater risk of additional viral spread.”
Google created charts comparing activity on June 5 — the latest data available — with January and February, the months before the first reported cases of the novel coronavirus in the U.S.
In New Mexico, 29 percent more people went to parks in June than before the pandemic, the data shows. However, some of the increase is a seasonal uptick that can be attributed to more people going out in warmer weather.
Data indicates 10 percent more people are now going to grocery stores and pharmacies than before the state’s outbreak of COVID-19.
About 10 percent fewer people are visiting recreation centers and retail overall, a possible sign that many are wary of places that would put them in closer contact with people.
Visits to transit stations remain down by 15 percent, indicating some people still eschew modes of travel that might make it hard to avoid clustering.
Workplaces have 33 percent less occupancy as many employees continue to work from home.
Santa Fe County is mostly aligned with the state trends. Here, even fewer people are jumping into available retail and recreation — 22 percent down from pre-pandemic levels — but 18 percent more are going to grocery stores and pharmacies.
At the same time, the county gained 42 cases between May 15 and June 7, compared to the 17 it added in the previous three weeks.
Still, health officials have reported the state’s overall transmission rate at 1.09, a moderate decrease from the 1.12 seen two weeks before and under the state’s target of 1.15.
A rate of 1 means each person infected will the virus will transmit it, on average, to one other person. Anything below 1 means the spread of the virus will decline. The downward trend is what prompted the state to partially reopen businesses.
However, Lujan Grisham has said that if people stop taking precautions, such as wearing face masks in public, and cases of the illness spike, she will reimpose restrictions.
Sackett said the state monitors the situation constantly for any changes.
“Our impression is most New Mexicans are taking steps to keep themselves and their families safe,” she said.
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June 11, 2020 at 12:10PM
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