New Mexico
New Mexico marks four years since COVID-19 shutdown
Four years ago today, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the state was starting to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four years ago today, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the state was starting to shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was the beginning of a public health emergency. Businesses shut down, students learned from home and hospitals across the state were overrun.
So how far have we come since then? Presbyterian’s medical director has a positive outlook. Dr. Denise A. Gonzales says in 2020, no one knew what the virus was. But now, they have the tools and knowledge needed that make fighting COVID easier.
“Society has changed. I think in general, it’s changed for the better,” Gonzales said. “Things were able to really take a turn but it was a gradual turn over many years. But only because, A, we knew more about what the virus does, B, we had effective treatments. And most importantly, I think, the vaccine.”
Certain practices were also made more common.
“I practiced telemedicine before the pandemic and it was very slow going,” Gonzales said. “Not a lot of people were adopting it. But now everybody’s doing it! And patients really benefit from it cause it increases access and it takes out the hassle factor.”
While she said she likes to stay optimistic, Gonzales also wants to make it clear — if you were scared or anxious in 2020, you weren’t alone. Doctors like her were going through this for the first time in their lives too.
“I was scared in 2020, thinking back to four years ago. I wasn’t sure if I was going to die. I wasn’t sure who was going to take care of my family if I did. But I knew that I had to work and take care of New Mexicans,” she said.
Unfortunately, viruses like COVID are going to stick around.
“Respiratory viruses in general are never going away,” Gonzales said. “We’re always going to have the ones that we’ve had before, and we may get new ones like COVID. But it’s important to do things like quarantine appropriately when you’re sick with a virus. At least a day after your last fever.”
Gonzales also said that washing your hands and wearing a mask when you’re sick or if you’re immunocompromised will also help prevent you from getting any virus, not just COVID. She also added that if there’s a vaccine available for any illness, you should get it.
New Mexico
Los Alamos Public Schools Students Compete At 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair
Students from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Mountain Elementary, Los Alamos Middle School, and Los Alamos High School at the 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair at New Mexico Tech. Photo CourtesyLAPS
LAHS junior Tate Plohr and freshman Linus Plohr qualified to attend the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May in Phoenix, Ariz. Photo Courtesy LAPS
Los Alamos Middle School student Branden Keller was awarded the CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Scholarship in the amount of $2,000 at the 2026 New Mexico State Science & Engineering Fair. Photo Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS NEWS RELEASE
Twenty students from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Mountain Elementary, Los Alamos Middle School (LAMS) and Los Alamos High School (LAHS) competed, with several garnering awards at the 2026 New Mexico State Science and Engineering Fair held at New Mexico Tech in Socorro.
LAHS junior Tate Plohr qualified to attend the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) next month in Phoenix, Ariz. He was awarded the 3rd-place Grand Award. Freshman Linus Plohr qualified as an alternate and will also be attending the Regeneron ISEF.
Students who participated in the state competition include, from Barranca Mesa Elementary, Sydney Chen, Mary Beth Kelsey, Lily Neale, Aurora Roberts Voss and Henry Rodarte; and Glyn Lo and Ernest Maupin, Mountain Elementary.
Students from LAMS who competed include Evelyn Fobes, Mason Garcia, Andrew Gilbertson, James Junghans, Sequoya Ke, Brandon Keller, Nejan Liyanage and Daniel Yampolsky.
LAHS students Julia Neale, Linus Plohr, Tate Plohr, Lilia Veteva, Helena Welch and Kalliope Welch competed at the senior level.
2026 Award winners:
Category Awards – Junior Division
- Animal Science, Cellular & Molecular
- Biomedical & Health Science
- Honorable Mention: Sequoya Ke
- Embedded Systems, Math, Robotics, Software & Technology
- 2nd place: Nejan Liyanage
- Physics & Astronomy
- 1st place: Sydney Chen
- 2nd place: Mason Garcia
- Honorable Mention: Marybeth Kelsey
- Plant Science
Category Awards – Senior Division
- Behavioral & Social Science:
- Honorable Mention: Linus Plohr
- Earth & Environmental
- Honorable Mention: Lilia Viteva
- Embedded Systems, Math, Robotics, & System Software
- 3rd Place: Helena Welch and Kalliope Welch
- Physics & Astronomy
Grand Awards
- ISEF finalist 3rd place: Tate Plohr
- Brandon Keller received the CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Scholarship in the amount of $2,000. James Jungans and Marybeth Kelsey garnered Thermo Fisher Awards.
Other special award winners include:
- CO2 & Greenhouse Reduction Awards (Junior Division)
- Daniel Yampolsky, 2nd place, Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Sequoya Ke, 1st place, Biomedical & Health Science
- Brandon Keller, 1st place, Energy & Materials Science
- Andrew Gilbertson, 1st place, Physics & Astronomy
- CO2 & Greenhouse Gas Reduction Award (Senior Division)
- Lilia Viteva, 1st place, Earth & Environmental Sciences
- Office of Naval Research Award
- David Shortess Award
- New Mexico AVS Award
- Citadel Award
- Naval Research Award
- NM Network for Women in Science & Engineering Award
- Yale Science & Engineering Award
- Rose Baca Rivet Award
Related
Arizona State baseball will host a four-game homestand, beginning with New Mexico State on Wednesday, April 22.
The Sun Devils and Aggies faced each other in late March, with ASU winning 10-4. The two teams will meet for the final time at 6:35 p.m. at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
ASU will then welcome Baylor on Friday, April 24, for a three-game series. The Sun Devils have yet to face the Bears this season, but ASU has been doing well so far and has been in the top 25 for four weeks.
Sophomore center fielder Landon Hairston earned Big 12 player of the week honors on April 13, after delivering five home runs in five games. His 10 runs in that stretch were tied for the second-most nationally and his 14 runs batted in were tied for third-most nationally. All nine of his hits went for extra bases, three more than any other player.
ASU’s series against Baylor will start at 6:35 p.m. for the first two games, followed by a 1:05 p.m. start on Sunday, April 26.
April 19
Softball at Houston, Cougar Softball Stadium, noon.
April 22
Baseball vs New Mexico State, Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 6:35 p.m.
April 23
Women’s golf at Big 12 Championship, Dallas Athletic Club, TBA.
Track and field at Penn Relays, Franklin Field, 1:22 p.m.
Beach volleyball at Big 12 Championship, Bear Down Beach, all day.
April 24
Baseball vs Baylor, Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 6:35 p.m.
Softball vs Texas Tech, Farrington Stadium, 7 p.m.
April 25
Lacrosse at Colorado, Prentup Field, 11 a.m.
Softball vs Texas Tech, Farrington Stadium, 3 p.m.
Baseball vs Baylor, Phoenix Municipal Stadium, 6:35 p.m.
Reach the reporter or send tips for stories at jenna.ortiz@arizonarepublic.com, as well as @jennarortiz on X.
Catch the best high school sports coverage in the state. Sign up for Azcentral Preps Now. And be sure to subscribe to our daily sports newsletters so you don’t miss a thing.
Josh’s Saturday Night Forecast
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – Calmer weather has moved back into the state this afternoon. Temperatures are slightly warmer across northwestern New Mexico, while southeastern areas are cooler thanks to the backdoor cold fronts that moved in on Friday. Breezier winds will return Sunday and will help kick off a warming trend across the state, along with an elevated fire threat in eastern New Mexico.
Warmer weather will continue building in across the state throughout the upcoming week. A few isolated rain chances will return Monday in parts of New Mexico, but some of that rain may evaporate before reaching the ground.
-
Culture9 minutes agoWhat America’s Main Characters Tell Us
-
Lifestyle15 minutes agoWe beef with the Pope and admire the Stanley Cup : Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!
-
Technology27 minutes agoThis pasta sauce wants to record your family
-
World33 minutes agoMassive 7.5-magnitude earthquake hits off Japanese coast, tsunami alert issued
-
Politics39 minutes agoUS military announces another deadly strike against ‘narco-terrorists’
-
Health45 minutes agoCancer tied to woman’s vaping habit since age 15 as she’s now given just months to live
-
Sports51 minutes agoPolice report details Zachariah Branch’s arrest days before NFL Draft over sidewalk incident
-
Technology57 minutes agoBMW puts humanoid robots to work building EVs