New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI,
Issue 18 / September 29, 2020
EXECUTIVE ORDER 2020-063
SECOND 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
WHEREAS, 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 under 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.
WHEREAS, despite the best efforts
of our State and local governments and the citizens
of New Mexico, COVID-19
has continued to spread and ongoing
effo1is are still necessary to mitigate and contain the spread of COVID-19;
WHEREAS, many of the current confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in New Mexico have resulted from interstate and international travel to New Mexico. Because some individuals infected with COVID-19 are asymptomatic or have ve1y 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.
WHEREAS, 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, § 12-10-10(A).
WHEREAS, 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-lOA-7
to -11.
THEREFORE, 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. The terms "self-isolate" or "self-quarantine" refer
to 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
individuals designated by the New Mexico Department
of Health, or individuals providing
medical care or emergency
response. 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.
2. I
direct all persons
who have arrived
in New Mexico from a state with a positive test rate higher than 80 per 1,000,000 residents
or a test positivity rate greater than or equal to 5%, over
a seven-day rolling
average, or from outside the United States 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. Persons who can show
documentation of a valid negative
COVID-19 test taken within seventy-two (72) hours before
or after entry into New Mexico are
exempt from the 14 day quarantine requirement. Persons who have undergone a COVID-19 test shall self-isolate or self-quarantine while awaiting the results of their
test. This exemption does not apply to persons entering
New Mexico after traveling outside of the United States.
3. All persons entering New Mexico from a state with a positive test rate lower than
80 per 1,000,000 residents, and a test positivity rate lower than 5%, over a seven-day
rolling average, are advised
to self-isolate or quarantine. New Mexico residents
are further advised
that they should be tested for COVID-19 within
5 to 7 days after
their return to New Mexico
from one of these states.
4. Any New Mexico state employee who vacations in another state
and is required to
quarantine upon reentering New Mexico will not be eligible for the
paid leave provided by the
Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
5. 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 and their dependents, federal employees, those
employed by a federal agency
or national defense
contractor, emergency first responders, health care workers, New Mexico residents
who have left the State
to obtain medical care,
New Mexico residents who have left the State
for less than twenty-four hours for
matters attendant to parenting responsibilities, elementary, middle school,
or high school students who attend
school in neighboring states or who commute into New Mexico to attend school, 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.
6. 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.
7. The New Mexico Department
of Health may issue additional protocols for
circumstances involving "essential businesses" as defined
by the Department of Health's Public Health Orders.
8. The New Mexico Department of Health shall,
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.
9. I
further direct the New Mexico
Department of Health
to post all information
necessary to implement the directives in this order
on its website.
This Order
supersedes any previous orders,
proclamations, or directives in conflict. This Executive Order shall take effect on September 4, 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
3RD DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2020
MAGGIE TOULOUSE
OLIVER WITNESS
MY HAND AND THE GREAT
SECRETARY OF
STATE SEAL
OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
MICHELLE
LUJAN GRISHAM GOVERNOR