SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - About 19,000 New Mexico unemployment applications were processed over the weekend as the state begins distributing a $600 federally subsidized boost to weekly benefits, the state’s top workforce official said Monday.
Overall, 74,000 people in New Mexico have been approved or recertified for unemployment benefits since the economic fallout from the coronavirus hit hard last month, said Workforce Solutions Secretary Bill McCamley.
That figure does not include claims filed by residents who file taxes as self-employed or as gig economy workers because officials have not yet started processing those claims. State officials have estimated that there are about 62,000 workers in New Mexico who fit into those work categories.
The maximum weekly unemployment payout in New Mexico is $461, but the federal boost increases that to $1,061 weekly.
The state’s jobless claims skyrocketed as Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, emphasized the need for social distancing under an emergency health order that suspended nonessential business, closed down schools and banned gatherings of more than five people.
New Mexico officials announced new deliveries of personal protective equipment such as face masks and gowns to retirement homes and state, local and tribal entities. The governor’s office says the state has spent $10.4 million on protective equipment designed to limit the transmission of COVID-19 since the disease arrived.
Shipments in recent days went out to Pojoaque, Zuni and Santa Clara pueblos as well as retirement homes in Bernalillo, Sandoval and Socorro counties.
Lujan Grisham has said an economic recovery plan is under development, but it is unclear whether the plan will incorporate the White House’s phased approach to reopening the economy.
Lujan Grisham took part in a call Monday between U.S. governors and Vice President Mike Pence regarding efforts to expand coronavirus testing capacity. Lujan Grisham spokesman Tripp Stelnicki said she did not get a chance to ask Pence for more information about the future of antibody testing, which New Mexico has not yet implemented.
New Mexico relies on coronavirus tests that use nose or throat swabs, though its health officials are eager to explore the potential benefits of antibody tests that look in the blood for evidence someone had the virus and recovered.
Lujan Grisham said last week that social distancing measures cannot be relaxed without broader testing, expanded contact tracing to try and pinpoint and isolate sources of infection, and new treatment or therapy options. Public health officials have said it could take a year to 18 months to fully validate potential vaccines.
New Mexico has at least 58 deaths linked to COVID-19 and nearly 2,000 infections.
In other developments:
-Philanthropic efforts aimed at providing humanitarian aid to Native American communities in New Mexico and neighboring states is ramping up under the leadership of the New Mexico Community Foundation. The foundation’s Native American Relief Fund aims to raise $3 million.
- The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit Monday against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on behalf of immigrants detained in Otero County Processing Center in the community of Chaparral. The ACLU is seeking the release of three detainees who the group says are at high risk for serious illness or death in the event of a COVID-19 infection. ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa says the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
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