A prominent health record in a pandemic: Why NM Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham could be Biden’s VP pick

Lujan Grisham’s years of health-care experience were put to the test during the Covid-19 crisis, and she’s earned plaudits from Democrats for her strong response.

New Mexico’s status as one of the poorest states in the country with among the fewest hospital beds per capita put it at high risk. But that danger has so far been averted: As of Monday, New Mexico’s cases were on the decline, even as a growing number of states report increases in the number of infections. 

University of New Mexico disease specialist Helen Wearing told The New York Times that “hundreds of lives were saved because of what the state did early on, and that’s using conservative estimates.”

That praise could give Lujan Grisham, 60, an upper hand in a possible debate against Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force. Most Americans disapprove of President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.

At least 10,565 Covid-19 cases and 134 deaths have been confirmed in New Mexico.

Lujan Grisham herself said in a recent Rolling Stone interview that she drew on the lessons she learned as secretary of Health when confronting the coronavirus.

“I’m no stranger to the significance of any infectious disease, and I know the danger in a pandemic. You take an abundance of caution, even if you don’t know everything that you need to know. If there is no vaccine and no real treatment, then you better keep people from being in contact,” she said.

“I made quick and very broad, decisive actions, telling people to stay at home, closing schools, and narrowing essential businesses. We quarantined people coming across borders for 14 days. We were working on taking the temperatures of truckers coming in and out of the state and doing questionnaires about whether they were symptomatic. We really were aggressive on the front end, and I believe, unequivocally, it has paid off in where the state is today.”

Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/22/biden-vp-search-michelle-lujan-grisham-has-coronavirus-health-care-experience.html