Doctors worry of a COVID-19 surge during 4th of July weekend

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, 0ur state recorded over 27 thousand cases of COVID-19 in June. Now, as we head into the holiday weekend, doctors are concerned with another potential spike in cases.Fireworks and barbecues are just around the corner. Still, as cases climb in New Mexico, Dr. Vesta Sandoval and Dr. Barry Ramo say we must be careful about another virus outbreak.”The message for everybody is that the virus is still here. We’re seeing a higher number of Omicron variants that are somewhat resistant to the benefits we have from the vaccine,” said Dr. Ramo.Dr. Sandoval said, “Families and friends want to gather for July 4th, but it’s important to remember we still have people getting and dying from COVID-19. I think people must be conscious of if they’re having symptoms, then test themselves.”Cases plateaued from February to April in a chart of COVID-19 cases released by the New Mexico Department of Health. Now, it appears that we’re in the midst of a spike that started in May. Doctors say there are some important things to remember when celebrating the 4th of July.”Getting close to people in an area where there’s very poor circulation will set you up for getting an infection,” said Dr. Ramo.Even if it’s a small cough or headache, both doctors say to make sure you’re not accidentally infecting others.Dr. Vesta Sandoval said, “being outside is a much better situation because you’re going to be further away from people. You have better ventilation, so the risks do decrease. We don’t want to end up in two weeks or four weeks having a large surge because we had people going out who are infected and infecting large crowds.”On July 1st, the Department of Health announced our state had recorded 565 thousand cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico.