ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Some New Mexico essential businesses have been shut down due to a substantial increase in coronavirus cases.
A new edict announced Thursday allows the New Mexico Department of Health to shut down workplaces for two weeks if they have four or more coronavirus cases in a 14-day period.
More than 20 essential businesses across the state were shut down as of Friday, of which nearly half were grocery stores or major retailers. The closures include two Walmarts in Albuquerque, a Walmart in Santa Fe, a Target in Santa Fe and an Albertson’s in Roswell, KOAT-TV reported.
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“You can’t have a grocery store or another big box store that sells groceries if all of the employees or the vast majority of them have COVID. You can’t open up,” Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said. “And that’s the issue. … There’s so much of this infection that it’s inside the very places people need to access.”
Roswell Mayor Dennis Kintigh said closures create long lines of waiting customers outside remaining stories, which must operate at reduced capacity. “It’s a pain to put it mildly,” Kintigh told the Albuquerque Journal.
New Mexico Department of Health spokeswoman Marisa Maez said the state has discretion when considering which businesses to close, and considers whether a store provides essential goods or not. She said the current closures are not considered critical because they are in communities with “considerable alternatives.”
For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some — especially older adults and people with existing health problems — it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.
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November 22, 2020 at 02:14AM
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Some New Mexico essential business close due to virus spike - Associated Press
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