New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI,
Issue 13 / July 14, 2020
AMENDED ORDER DIRECTING INDIVIDUALS TRAVELING TO NEW
MEXICO TO SELF-ISOLATE OR SELF-QUARANTINE FOR A LIMITED PERIOD AND DIRECTING THE NEW MEXICO DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO INITIATE LAWFUL
ISOLATION AND QUARANTINE PROCEEDINGS FOR INDIVIDUALS WHO DO NOT SELF-ISOLATE OR
SELF-QUARANTINE
On
March 11, 2020, Executive Order 2020-004 declared a statewide public health emergency pursuant to the Public Health Emergency Response Act and invoked gubernatorial powers und er the All Hazard Emergency Management Act. See Order Declaring A State of Public Health Emergency and Invoking the Powers Provided by the All Hazard
Emergency Management Act and the Emergency Licensing Act, Executive Order 2020-004. That Order is
incorporated by reference herein.
Despite
the best efforts of our State and local governments and the citizens of New Mexico, COVID- 19 has continued to spread and ongoing efforts are still necessary to mitigate and contain the spread of COVID- 19;
Many of the current
confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico have resulted from interstate and international travel to New Mexico via airplane. Because some individuals infected with COVID- 19 are asymptomatic or have very mild symptoms, travelers may be unaware they are carrying the virus. For this reason, persons arriving in New Mexico from out of state must self-isolate for a period of time sufficient to ensure that the
public health and safety is not jeopardized.
The
All Hazards Emergency Management Act vests my office with the authority to take
all actions necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare and to
direct State agencies to provide aid during an emergency response. NMSA 1978, § 12-10-4(B)(3);
NMSA 1978, § 12-10- l O(A).
During
a declared state of public health emergency, the Public Health Emergency
Response Act authorizes the New Mexico Department of Health to isolate or
quarantine individuals or groups as necessary to prevent or limit the spread of
a threatening communicable disease, subject to certain statutory
procedures. See NMSA 1978, §§ 12-IOA-7
to -11.
For
the reasons set forth above, I, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Governor of the State
of New Mexico, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and
laws of the State of New Mexico, hereby order and direct as follows:
1. I direct that all persons who have
arrived in New Mexico from a location outside of the State must self-isolate or
self-quarantine for a period of at least 14 days from the date of their entry
into the State of New Mexico or for the duration of their presence in the
State, whichever is shorter.
2. The terms "self-isolate"
or "self-quarantine" refer the voluntary physical separation of a
person or group of people in a residence or other place of lodging. Any person
who is self-isolating or self-quarantining may only leave a residence or place
of lodging to receive medical care and should not allow others into the
residence or place of lodging except for those providing medical care,
emergency response, or other individuals designated by the New Mexico
Department of Health. Family or household members may visit an isolated or
quarantined person, but those visitors are directed to then self-isolate or
self-quarantine for a period of no less than 14 days. All persons
self-isolating or self-quarantining shall be responsible for all costs
associated with the isolation or quarantine.
3. This Order's direction to
self-quarantine does not apply to persons employed by airlines, those
performing public safety or public health functions, military personnel,
federal employees, those employed by a federal agency or national defense
contractor, emergency first responders, health care workers, those arriving in the
State pursuant to a Court order, and persons who are employed or contracted by
an "essential business", as defined by the operative public health
order addressing mass gathering restrictions and business closures, and who are traveling into New
Mexico to conduct business activities.
4. Individuals who do not comply with
the self-isolation and self-quarantine directives set forth above shall be
subject to involuntary isolation or quarantine by the New Mexico Department of
Health under the Public Health Emergency Response Act.
5. I further direct the New Mexico
Department of Health, with the cooperation and assistance of all other
executive agencies, to take all necessary steps to ensure the screening and
appropriate isolation and quarantine of individuals covered by this Order. This will include making temporary holds of
individuals or groups,
obtaining court orders
requiring isolation or
quarantine in compliance with the
provisions of the Public Health Emergency Response Act, and imposing any civil
or criminal penalties warranted under the Public Health Emergency Response Act
and the Public Health Act when individuals do not self-isolate or
self-quarantine as required by this Order.
This
Order supersedes any previous orders, proclamations, or directives in
conflict. This Executive Order shall
take effect on July 1, 2020 and shall remain in effect through the duration of
the public health emergency declared in Executive Order 2020-004 and any
extensions of that emergency declaration or until it is rescinded.
ATTEST: DONE
AT THE EXECUTIVE OFFICE
THIS
1ST DAY OF JULY 2020
MAGGIE TOULOUSE
OLIVER WITNESS
MY HAND AND THE GREAT
SECRETARY OF
STATE SEAL
OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
MICHELLE
LUJAN GRISHAM GOVERNOR