Week 10 - Universal Healthcare Beta Test

Recently, New Mexico has been receiving recognition for how we have handled the coronavirus outbreak in our state. Despite being largely rural with a small transportation industry, we have decided to aggressively defend ourselves from the virus. This week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham joined 26 other state heads in issuing a shelter-in-place warning for residents. Activity began to slow two weeks earlier when she announced an extended spring break for APS, eventually culminating in the shut down of all non-essential businesses.

However, the shelter-in-place directive is not the reason for the praise. Gov. Lujan Grisham has been adamant in making sure COVID-19 tests are widely accessible. She ordered that each of New Mexico's 33 counties were required to open at least one testing site and eliminated all healthcare costs associated with infection and prevention. In a state where swaths of workers are uninsured, the only way the governor could guarantee public safety was by promising to take care of New Mexicans. She has made testing and cure research top priority at our state's two national labs, and as such we are able to conduct thousands of tests a day. Other locations can only handle a few dozens or hundreds at the most. After witnessing other states' poorly handled reactionary methods, Gov. Lujan Grisham decided that the best way to fight the virus would be with proactive measures. It is also noteworthy that she is being commended for implementing a universal healthcare system and that it is proving to be the best way to keep people healthy.