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

Algernon D'Ammassa
Las Cruces Sun-News
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham speaks during a live stream press conference from her residence on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020.

SANTA FE - New public health measures going into effect Friday will aim to boost safety in food and drink establishments as well as retail businesses, and target those that become hotspots for COVID-19 disease. 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the new protocols during a news conference Tuesday afternoon that was not live streamed on the governor's official Facebook page, as has been the custom for her weekly updates, because of technical problems. KOB-TV in Albuquerque broadcast it live, and the governor's office said a recording of the conference would be posted on the Facebook page. 

After Friday, businesses requiring two rapid responses to their sites in a two-week period after reporting infections of COVID-19 to the New Mexico Environment Department will be placed on a published watch list.

As it happened: Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham gives update on COVID-19 surge in New Mexico

After four in the same period, those business will be required to cease operations for 14 days. 

Businesses are required to report cases of COVID-19 among their personnel to the NMED. 

Businesses subject to the policy include dining establishments and breweries, retail establishments, places of lodging and close-contact businesses such as gyms and salons.

The requirements come on top of amended public health orders requiring establishments that serve alcohol to close by 10 p.m.

Beginning Friday, retail establishments will close at 10 p.m. as well, in an effort to encourage residents to limit business outside of their homes. 

The state defines retail establishments as businesses selling goods or services directly to a customer and include grocery stores and “big box” stores.

A sign is posted outside of Albertsons in Las Cruces on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2020. The New Mexico Environment Department published a rapid response COVID-19 watch list, of which Albertsons in on.

The NMED's rapid responses are a program that advises workplaces on best practices for sanitizing and maintaining safety after an employee is infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. 

As daily cases of COVID-19 have surged in New Mexico since Labor Day, the NMED reported carrying out 832 rapid responses statewide between Oct. 12 and 18, compared to 611 the previous week and 419 the week before that. 

Rapid response:

Lujan Grisham said the new requirements were an effort to allow businesses to operate while targeting geographic hotspots and specific enterprises with repeated COVID-19 infections. 

Data presented by the New Mexico Environment Department on Oct. 20, 2020, show an accelerating increase in rapid responses to businesses reporting infections of COVID-19 on site.

Additionally, food and drink establishments will be required as of Friday to keep a three-week log of customers dining in, to assist with contact tracing efforts. 

In high-risk counties, those establishments will also be subject to spot testing of their employees. 

They will also be required to complete a free state certification program in COVID-19 safety practices for businesses by Oct. 30 in order to continue offering indoor dining, limited to 25 percent of their regular fire code capacity. 

On Tuesday, 79 food and drink establishments across the state, including chain franchises, were registered. 

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Of the hotels, restaurants and other businesses that had participated, Lujan Grisham said they "have taken us up on really knowing what (the safety program) is, what it can mean, and how it can help you keep COVID from taking hold of your business."

State-operated museums and historical sites will close Friday for an indefinite period. 

The message the governor rammed home repeatedly is that New Mexicans "let our guard down" in complying with COVID-19 guidance to wear masks in public, avoid social gatherings, maintain distance from other people and wash their hands frequently.

Average daily infection rates have been climbing in every region of the state, and every age group, since Labor Day, per data from the state Department of Health. New Mexico's current spread rate is among the highest in the United States, with an average of 525 new cases per day last week. 

Amber Almaraz (left) and Rebecca Melendez (right) set up and operate a COVID study with TriCore and New Mexico State on NMSU campus on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020.

New Mexico's seven-day test positivity rate of 6.5 percent represents a 91 percent increase since Oct. 1. 

State Human Services Secretary David Scrase said health officials were "very concerned" about the rise in COVID-19 patients requiring hospital care statewide, presenting data that 81 percent of adult hospital beds in the system were occupied including 71 percent, or 432 out of 605, intensive care unit beds. 

"Right now we're seeing a particular level of high volume in Albuquerque," Scrase said, including hospitals that take patients from other parts of the state. On Monday evening, for instance, a COVID-19 patient in Deming was routed to Santa Fe instead of one of the Albuquerque facilities.

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State health officials were working to balance capacity for patients with other health concerns prevalent in the state, such as heart disease, especially when it comes to ICU care, Scrase said. 

The data on new cases among school personnel, however, did not warrant putting the brakes on current guidelines for resuming some in-person services at public schools, Scrase opined.

Lujan Grisham and Scrase throughout the briefing both urged residents to limit travel outside the home, and outside the state in particular, for essential business related to health, safety and welfare. For travel outside the home, residents were reminded of a face mask requirement in all public places, a limit on social gatherings to five even in private, and the guidance to maintain six feet of distance from other people and to wash hands frequently. 

"We're not in a good place right now," the governor said near the end of the conference. "We are trending poorly (but) we have the ability to do something about that." 

Read more:Most New Mexico voters approve of Gov. Lujan Grisham's COVID-19 response

Once again, the state Republican Party rejected the response led by Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, calling her administration's response arbitrary and destructive to business.

"We’re sure the governor means well, but her latest restrictions will gut businesses, destroy our economy and continue to punish students, teachers and parents," the party stated in a news release Tuesday, continuing: "Today’s restrictions are another attack on businesses: forced closings, threats and mandates that will kill more jobs, shutter more doors and lead to more despair."

Algernon D'Ammassa can be reached at 575-541-5451, adammassa@lcsun-news.com or @AlgernonWrites on Twitter.