Serving the High Plains

NM adds to list of high risk states

The state of New Mexico on Wednesday added to the list of states from which visitors and arriving residents must quarantine.

Colorado, Oregon and Rhode Island were added to the list of high-risk states as of Sept. 23.

Individuals arriving from those states must quarantine for 14 days or for the duration of their stay in New Mexico, whichever is shorter.

Michigan and Hawaii moved from high-risk to low-risk, according to the rolling positivity and test rates of those states.

As of Sept. 23, the list of high-risk states is as follows: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas,, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

The state amends the list each Wednesday according to the state-by-state health conditions as defined in the executive order; the updated information is maintained on the cv.nmhealth.org homepage.

Persons arriving from low-risk states with a 5% positivity rate or lower over a seven-day rolling average, or a positive test rate lower than 80 per 1 million residents, are not required to self-quarantine.

Self-quarantine is still advised for persons arriving from these states, and persons arriving from these lower-risk states are advised to be tested for COVID-19 within five to seven days of their arrival in the state.

Persons who can show documentation of a valid negative COVID-19 test taken within the 72 hours before or after entry into New Mexico are exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement, regardless of the state from which they have traveled. 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.

Individuals who are quarantined upon arrival into the state from a high-risk state may leave the residence or place of lodging in which they are self-quarantining only for the purposes of medical care.

Self-quarantining individuals should not allow others into the residence or place of lodging in which they are quarantined except for those providing medical care, emergency response or other individuals designated by the Department of Health. Family or household members may visit a quarantined person, but those visitors must then self-quarantine themselves for a period of no less than 14 days.

Non-compliant individuals are subject to involuntary quarantine by the New Mexico Department of Health under the Public Health Emergency Response Act.