DALE JANWAY, CARLSBAD CURRENT ARGUS | APRIL 9, 2020

One of our community’s truly essential services right now is our local United Way, which has been helping so many people with the COVID-19 Emergency Relief Fund. Director Linda Dodd asked us to mention a few more generous donors:

Canyonstone and Copperstone Apartments gave $5,000 to the program, as have Burba, Cole and Overstreet, Western Sky Community Care and Santo Petroleum. Carlsbad National Bank has contributed $10,000 to this important program and the Carlsbad Community Foundation gave $3,000. The United Way’s program is directly supporting residents in need. Please keep up the good work and thank you for your generosity.

Another business invested in this community, ConocoPhillips, recently made a generous donation of $25,000 to Carlsbad Municipal Schools and a similar donation to CARC Inc. This is greatly appreciated during this critical time period.

We have now been informed of a total of six total COVID-19 cases in Eddy County, which includes the two we found out about Wednesday afternoon and reported yesterday. 

As always, our most important response is to wish these two individuals a very healthy recovery and to also pray for the health professionals who have provided these individuals with assistance.

Many members of the public are asking us for more information, specifically as to whether these two cases were from Carlsbad, Artesia or another part of the county. We know that both Carlsbad Medical Center and Artesia General Hospital have each said that these two individuals did not test out of their facility.

What that means is that it is possible that these two positive tests were administered through either Artesia or Carlsbad’s state health clinic, both of which are now administering tests four days a week. Someone who lives in Eddy County may have also received a positive test outside of the county. The tests conducted by the health office here are sent to Santa Fe Epidemiology. We’ve reached out to the State for clarification. Our Department of Health employees are extremely busy and are doing a great job.

If you have any questions about the state’s screening and testing process, please visit https://cv.nmhealth.org/public-health-screening-and-testing/.

No matter where the tests were administered, however, the guidelines of staying home whenever possible and maintaining social distancing are still critical. This risk applies to our community as much as it does anywhere.

While we’ve enjoyed devoting a portion of this space each day toward honoring many of the generous individuals and organizations who are stepping up in this time of crisis, there are also some people out on the other side who are trying to utilize the COVID-19 outbreak to scam others.

The New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance and the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General recently put out a list of tips warning consumers about con artists and scammers. The AG’s office has pledged to prosecute these scammers.

According to the state offices, a scammer may use an unsolicited letter, phone call, or text message to warn you about a risk to your health, safety, finances, insurance, or business. The scammer likely will offer you a “time-sensitive” opportunity, or tell you that you must take immediate action. To respond to the warning or opportunity, you will be asked to purchase a product or service, or to provide personal identification information. Very often, the scammer’s request or notice will appear to come from a government agency, a reputable charity, or even an established business.

Once you provide access to your information, a scammer may steal your identity or your money. Please be extremely cautious, and feel free to contact us directly if you have any questions or concerns.

If you think you've been the victim of a scam, you can contact the Office of the Attorney General at www.nmag.gov or call 1-844-255-9210 and press number 5. If the scam relates to insurance or insurance coverage, you can call the Insurance fraud hotline at 1-877-807-4010 or report it online at www.stopfraud.org.