40 Doña Ana County locations on COVID-19 rapid response watchlist

UPDATE:COVID-19 watchlist revised with fewer locations due to 'data quality issues'

LAS CRUCES - The New Mexico Environment Department released a list Tuesday of businesses, government agencies and other institutions which have been the subject of two or more COVID-19 rapid responses in a two-week time period, including 40 in Doña Ana County.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also announced Tuesday that effective Oct. 23, businesses that have had four or more rapid responses in a two-week period will be required to close for two weeks.

The announcement states: “this closure requirement will apply to food and drink establishments, close-contact businesses, retail spaces, places of lodging and other places of business presenting an extreme public health risk as determined by the Department of Health.”

More:New Mexico issues new requirements for retailers, eateries as COVID-19 cases spike

This is all part of a larger state plan for transparency of COVID-19 spread and a crackdown on mitigation.

Louis Biad of Rezolex, LLC said the paprika processing company near Radium Springs was originally classified as an essential food service and has not been required to close since the onset of the virus in March. The business has reported nine COVID-19 cases with three rapid response instances since Oct. 5. Biad said considering this, he chose to close for two weeks prior to Oct. 19.

“We notified OSHA and Department of Health and Environmental Department. We went through the rapid response protocol with each one of them,” Biad said. “People are not opposed to doing the right thing, it's just very difficult when they're doing it with a gun to their head.”

He added that if his business were required to shut down for two weeks due to four or more rapid responses, a shortage of snack foods and sauces would contribute to the breakdown of the food chain.

New Mexico State University was also included on the watchlist, with four rapid responses in the past two weeks. According to the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, they have had 174 cases, with 21 active currently.

More:Here are the Doña Ana County businesses investigated for coronavirus

Justin Bannister, spokesperson for NMSU, said the university has had rapid testing on campus a few times a week for a few weeks. However, he said they have not seen anything that would indicate the need to close the university. They have not linked transmission to classroom activity at this time, but they will be going to remote learning after the Thanksgiving break.

“The university had worked with the Department of Health for several weeks to have several-times-a-week rapid testing on campus. That's what we were doing until we got our surveillance testing set up,” Bannister said.

Along with the stricter enforcement of business closures, Lujan Grisham also announced all retail establishments will have a curfew of 10 p.m., mirroring the same requirement food and drink establishments selling alcohol were required to adhere to as of last week.

Watchlist

Here are the Doña Ana County businesses on the New Mexico Environment Department’s watchlist released Oct. 20.

Anthony:

• Boone Transportation, 2102 Washington St., two rapid responses

Hatch:

• Hatch Valley School District, 407 N. Main St., three rapid responses

Las Cruces (includes other locations in Doña Ana County):

• Addus Home Care, 3870 Foothills Rd., two rapid responses
• Albertsons Market, 2501 N Main St., two rapid responses
• Big 5 Sporting Goods, 3060 E. Lohman Ave., one rapid response
• Cesar Chavez Elementary School, 5250 Holman Rd., three rapid responses
• City of Las Cruces, 700 N. Main St., five rapid responses 
• City of Las Cruces Utilities Department, 700 N. Main St., two rapid responses
• Cyracom International, 2303 Divot Ave. #1, two rapid responses
• Desert Peaks Assisted Living, 5525 Cotton Bloom Ct., two rapid responses
• Doña Ana County Detention Center, 1850 Copper Loop, three rapid responses
• Doña Ana County Sheriff-Chaparral, 845 N. Motel Blvd., one rapid response
• FirstLight Federal Credit Union, 3791 E. Lohman Ave., two rapid responses 
• General Dynamics Corp., 4600 Research Park Cir., two rapid responses 
• Home Kare Inc. of Doña Ana, 2303 Divot Ave. # 5, two rapid responses
• Human Services Department, 655 Utah Ave., two rapid responses
• LE Electric Inc., 4558 Gerald Dr., two rapid responses
• Memorial Medical Center, 2450 S. Telshor Blvd., six rapid responses 
• Mesilla Valley Hospital, 3751 Del Rey Blvd., three rapid responses 
• MountainView Regional Medical Center, 4311 E. Lohman Ave., six rapid responses
• New Mexico State University, 1708 E. University Ave., four rapid responses
• Progressive Residential Services, 1100 S. Main St. #A, two rapid responses 
• Rehabilitation Hospital, 4441 E. Lohman Ave., three rapid responses
• Rezolex, LLC, 3 Fort Selden Rd, three rapid responses
• Sam's Club, 2711 N. Telshor Blvd., two rapid responses 
• Solar Electric Co., 806 W. Hadley Ave., two rapid responses 
• Southwest Range Services, LLC, 5825 N. Jornada Rd., three rapid responses
• Tombaugh Elementary School, 505 S. Main St. #249, one rapid response
• Walmart Supercenter, 1550 S. Valley Dr., four rapid responses
• Walmart Supercenter, 571 Walton Blvd. #C, two rapid responses

Santa Teresa: 

• CN Wire Corp., 11 Runway Dr., three rapid responses
• CommScope Connectivity, 101 Lindbergh Dr., two rapid responses
• DA, Inc., 100 Lindbergh Dr., one rapid response
• Glaz-Tech Industries, 150 Industrial Rd., two rapid responses 
• Peak Behavioral Health Services, 5045 McNutt Rd., four rapid responses
• Sunrise Manufacturing Southwest, 7100 Binational Ave. #500, four rapid responses
• Union Pacific Railroad, 8300 Airport Rd., two rapid responses

Sunland Park:

• Riverside Elementary School, 4085 McNutt Rd., three rapid responses

• Stampede Meat, Inc., 5700 McNutt Rd., eight rapid responses

White Sands:

• White Sands Missile Range, 1785 Aberdeen Ave. / 1742 Sioux St., two rapid responses

Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.