New Mexico Register / Volume XXXI,
Issue 20 / October 27, 2020
EXECUTIVE ORDER
2020-072
THIRD 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 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.
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-l0(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-l0A-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 to 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.
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 self-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 self-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 c1iminal 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, proclamation s, or directives in conflict. This Executive Order shall take effect
on October 16, 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
16TH DAY OF OCTOBER 2020
/ S
/ / S
/
MAGGIE
TOULOUSE OLIVER WITNESS
MY HAND AND THE GREAT
SECRETARY
OF STATE SEAL
OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO
MICHELLE
LUJAN GRISHAM GOVERNOR