Two Carlsbad business progress organizations have suggested to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham that she rescinds key provisions of the state’s most recent fitness ordinance to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last week, Lujan Grisham ordered restaurants to close restaurants on Monday, after they reopened on June 1, as the state saw a build-up in positive cases of virus and death.
He also ordered that out-of-state visitors remain quarantined for 14 days after entering New Mexico and that new Mexico citizens be able to enter state parks.
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The recent fitness ordinance was characterized by negative reactions from Carlsbad’s restaurants when Trinity and the two Pizza Inns pledged to remain open despite Monday’s repeal of the New Mexico Department of environment’s food service licenses.
On Wednesday, the Carlsbad Development Department (CDOD), a nonprofit organization that promotes business progress in the city, approved a solution that urges Lujan Grisham to reconsider the closure of restaurants and restrictions on foreign visitors.
First, restaurants closed in March when the disease was discovered in New Mexico, and closed restaurants reopened on June 1, but were limited to 50% of their capacity.
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On July 13, closed restaurants closed again, but restaurants had the opportunity to install seats instead.
DCOD President Craig Stephens said many Carlsbad restaurants could close permanently if forced to close for a moment under the new fitness order.
“Some of those corporations won’t close for a moment, so time is running out,” he said. “Each company is of importance to Carlsbad’s progression department. As such, we approved this solution in favor of corporations that were closed, the maximum of them for the time being in six weeks.”
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Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway said restaurants had implemented several new policies to fit the fitness criteria presented by the state and the Centers for Disease Control, such as employee temperature controls, consumers sitting six feet away, requiring masking, and Plexiglas screen structure with cash registers and plained podiums.
“Of all industries in the state, the place where you eat has shown the greatest willingness to adapt to all the protective precautions imposed on them,” Janway said.
“They have earned the right to remain open to every standard imaginable, and we help every effort to reopen our restaurants.”
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In its resolution, CDOD raises several objections to restrictions on places to eat and out of state that the Department believes were detrimental to the Carlsbad tourism industry by affecting the scale in Carlsbad Cave National Park and other nearby destinations.
The outdoor seating was for local restaurants, according to the resolution, because in July, temperatures exceeded one hundred degrees and only about 3 digits on the night before.
The CDOD also stated that the Governor had presented clinical evidence that internal foods had contributed to the spread of COVID-19.
More: Carlsbad restaurants protest state-required COVID-19 closures, open for indoor meals
And the restrictions were “discriminatory,” according to the resolution, and interstate commerce bounded illegally.
In a letter sent to Lujan Grisham through the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, the House argued that restrictions can disrupt very important summer tourist income for the city and that the closure of restaurants can deter visitors.
“The summer season is the economic column of this region and tourism is for our economy,” the letter reads. “The restaurants and hotels in Carlsbad thrive thanks to the annual summer tourism industry that offers us the herbal wonder of the Carlsbad caves.”
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House President and CEO Robert Defer said he expected the governor to revoke the recent fitness order after hearing the wishes of local Carlsbad companies.
“In all our small businesses, we need them to thrive and grow,” Defer said. “It’s hard to do it when the doors are locked. (Travel restriction) harms our tourism. This harms our retail business and our hotels. People will have time to quarantine and continue visiting.”
The economic damage through the physical fitness order exceeded mitigating the pandemic threat, read the CDOD resolution, because Eddy County saw fewer positive cases than the most populous and northern New Mexico counties, such as McKinley, Bernalillo, and San Juan counties.
In addition: local legislation in Eddy County will not guarantee New Mexico’s COVID-19 mask
In its resolution, the CDOD called for a more regional technique for fitness restrictions, adapted to the obvious point of spread in the New Mexico region.
The New Mexico Department of Health on Thursday reported three hundred new instances of COVID-19, adding 103 in Bernalillo and 39 in Doa Ana County.
The third largest registered building in Lea County, bordering Eddy County to the east, with 23 new cases.
Eddy County recorded thirteen new cases, with a total of 167, while Bernalillo leads the state with 3,464 cases.
In early June, when restaurants were allowed to reopen indoor seating, Eddy County had 82 instances and Lea County had 134, the spread of COVID-19 in the two counties in southeastern New Mexico has doubled since restaurants reopened.
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“The virus went crazy, ” said Lujan Grisham. “Too many of us still don’t wear masks. Too many of us still congregate in groups, taking dangers from our own lives and endangering the fitness of our circle of relatives, neighbors, and our state.
“This public fitness crisis has been a major challenge for all of us, adding business owners and whose lives and livelihoods have been invested as this virus spreads.
Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, [email protected] or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.