CNN "Newsroom" - Interview with Michelle Lujan Grisham

Interview

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Joining us now, amid this showdown, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Governor, thanks for taking the time.

[17:05:00]

Does New Mexico have the testing capacity they would need to reopen?

GOV. MICHELLE LUJAN GRISHAM (D-NM): Well, those are important questions, but they don't quite sync up exactly like that. The answer to the first part, testing, we do have considerable capacity for testing. We are now going to be in what the CDC is identifying as a pilot state to really ramp up and that means getting the supplies.

We have many numbers of instruments, each of them take different reagents and different efforts, and it means having incredible amounts of public health personnel so that you can have multiple testing sites.

We have more than 50 operating in our state, often at any given time, statewide, so that we can actually -- we can run anywhere from 3,500 with the right supplies, we could run 6,000 tests a day in New Mexico. So, getting the supplies, having cooperation, having a real focus here, yes.

The second thing is, I need to know, because I'm ramping up testing, what is going on. What we're looking for is prevalence and transmission data. What percentage of the population is asymptomatic? Once we have that, then you can make economic recovery decisions and of course, we're desperate to do just that.

CABRERA: So you said you have significant testing capacity and ability right now, but then, you also said, getting the supplies you need as part of all of this, do you have all of those supplies right now, or are you still missing pieces that would help to boost the testing and make sure it's widespread enough to be able to rope your state?

GRISHAM: It's a bit of both. We have been -- I think we're in the top nine states for the amount of testing we've done well over 35,000 tests in the state. But when you look at that, and then it's 2 percent of the population, it's still insignificant.

So, I spend an inordinate amount of my time, and I know you hear this by all the governors, I've become a reagent expert. And I'm on a first-name basis with folks at Roche and Abbott. We're now looking at a high-volume, high-capacity machine, which means it runs 500 or a thousand samples at once, but can do them in a rapid fashion.

So, faster than four hours, faster than eight hours. It can do it in 45 minutes. And that cooperation with the federal government, if I'm not chasing supplies, then I'm analyzing data. I know exactly what's missing. I can help my team stand up instruments in any number of labs across the state. And we're rocking and rolling.

But you have to have that coordination. And that has been missing. And I'm very interested to see how this pilot operation is going to work. Because, frankly, to your point, why are we all competing? Why is the governor's are frustrated with the federal government?

The federal government says now that it's frustrated with governors. I'll tell you what New Mexicans want. They want a simple, productive, straightforward strategy that tells them they can be safe, that can stand up and protect health care workers and first responders, and there's a plan to go back to work.

And if we aren't working together, none of that will happen. We have to manage now this virus. It's here. This notion that you can stop it or control it, you can manage it. Information is power. I'm working diligently to put this state in the driver's seat, to manage this virus productively.

CABRERA: This week, New Mexico, I know, recorded its highest number of daily deaths. When do you expect to reach your peak in New Mexico?

GRISHAM: So our current modeling, and of course, as you know, it changes literally every day because we put real, you know, realtime data into our modeling system. We expect that the surge happens still at the end of April. And we've done an effective job statewide bending the curve.

So it looks like mid-May, later in May is when we should expect a peak. That could shift and we're preparing to, you know, stay the course to the highest degree possible because here's what we're also seeing. While we're bending the curve as a state, that's not happening in our minority and rural communities.

We're seeing significant, right, transmission rates, doubling every day and a half, two days in some communities, in some days, 50 percent of our positive cases are in our sovereign nations. That is something we have to get our arms around.

And we are working on a brand-new relationship with Indian Health Service so that we're actually running the tests, so they'll help us collect samples.

[17:09:56]

But if we're running the tests, then I can tell pueblos and tribes in four hours, how many individuals are positive and we can do community containment and self-isolation strategies that are much more robust than they would be if we're waiting five days.

CABRERA: Right. So, you continue to say, the testing is the key. We keep hearing, the testing is what has to come first in order to move to the next step. You've already extended the state's stay-at-home order until April 30th.

But I'm hearing you say, you don't even think you will have reached the state's peak of coronavirus case and the peak of this crisis by then. So are you planning to start lifting restrictions on May 1st or can you residents expect another extension of the stay-at-home order?

GRISHAM: Well, to give you and many New Mexicans a sense of that, some of our largest cities have extended their emergency powers and orders through the middle of May. We are making that decision in the next couple of days.

But look, if you want to manage the virus and make sure that you're keeping people safe, the notion that you can lift all of your restrictions before you peak means that that peak is going to be much worse, more severe, and more people will die.

So I'm going to stay the course to keep people safe in the state. But I hope in the next week or so, I'm going to have more prevalence and surveillance data which will put us in, quite frankly, again, the driver seat to balance these two issues.

Keeping people safe, which I don't look for a balance there -- that's a very clear north star. I don't want anymore people dying. I want to protect my healthcare workers and my hospital capacity. And I want to manage this virus. But without surveillance data, I could never make a reasonable economic decision.

We should be in a position shortly to be able to do both. But, yes. Unless my peak data shifts, it doesn't look like New Mexico is ready on May 1st.

CABRERA: Okay, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, we will be in touch with you and continuing to send our best wishes and strength your way. So that, you know, New Mexico can get through it, as well as anybody. Thank you very much for taking the time.

GRISHAM: Thank you for everything that you're doing, which leans in and provides good information to Americans and viewers about the severity of this deadly virus and about the impacts we can all have if we work better together. Thank you.

CABRERA: We're doing the best we can. Thank you.

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