Quarantine or Not, Travelers Still Go to New Mexico

 

In the New Mexico mountain town of Red River, visitors from Texas walk along Main Street. Most of the out-of-state visitors ignore orders from New Mexico's governor to quarantine and wear face coverings.

Tourists are also coming to others areas in the state, including Taos and the city of Santa Fe. But there, nearly all visitors wear face coverings. Both places have signs warning visitors of fines if they break the rules.

Like governors in at least 15 states, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham has ordered out-of-state tourists to self-isolate. Lujan Grisham, a member of the Democratic Party, has pointed¹ to data showing that about one in 10 of New Mexico's COVID-19 cases comes from visitors.

Enforcing the orders is proving difficult, however. The United States has no national plan related to face masks. New Mexico police resist launching a massive campaign to enforce the state's rules. And even in a pandemic, many Americans continue to take long road trips.

A road trip this summer means driving through states with very different rules when it comes to the coronavirus.

New York, New Jersey² and Connecticut require travelers from 19 states with high COVID-19 infection rates to self-quarantine for two weeks after they arrive. New York requires fines for those who disobey.

Hard-hit Florida requires travelers from those three states to self-isolate for 14 days whether they arrive by car or airplane. Travelers who do not do so face a $500 fine.

The states of Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Vermont also announced self-isolation rules.

‘Taking away out liberty'

New Mexico's government published newspaper advertisements in neighboring Arizona and Texas. The ads urge people from those states not to visit New Mexico. Arizona has a positive coronavirus test rate of 27 percent. In Texas, the test rate is 18 percent. Health experts consider a 5 percent rate to be worrisome.

But the visitors keep coming.

Texan Chris Fry is one of them. He recently visited Red River. "They're saying the masks should work, so why should you be quarantined?" Fry said.

A 45-minute drive south in Taos Plaza³, Louisiana tourist Christy Brasiel was upset that the historic Native American community was closed to visitors. She compared the New Mexico governor's rules to "communism or socialism."

"They're taking away our liberty," she said. She stayed in a private Airbnb property to avoid her voluntary quarantine order.

As in cities across New Mexico, police in Red River have yet to issue citations⁵ for not obeying COVID-19 rules, said town mayor Linda Calhoun, a Republican. She told the Reuters news agency that she is urging businesses in her town to require face coverings.

"We live off of tourists, that's all we have, so it's very difficult for us to enforce the order," Calhoun said of the quarantine rule. Red River is sometimes called "Little Texas" because of the number of visitors from that state.

In Taos County, COVID-19 cases have doubled in the past month. Many locals there are upset by the behavior of tourists.

"It doesn't make any sense to be so selfish," said Maureen Moore, a 67-year-old lawyer.

"We don't want you here"

Three weeks ago, New Mexico reported stable or dropping daily case numbers. The state had used early, severe restrictions⁶ to control the spread of the virus. The governor eased the restrictions on June 1.

But with its positive test rate rising above 4 percent, Lujan Grisham has criticized New Mexicans for letting down their guard. This week, she reclosed indoor restaurant dining.

At a press conference on July 9, Lujan Grisham said of tourists, "We don't want you here now." Speaking to Texans interested in possibly visiting her state, she said, "I want you to stay in Texas."

The governor added that New Mexico State Police would "aggressively" enforce her quarantine and mask orders.

I'm Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

quarantine - n. to keep (a person or animal) away from others to prevent a disease from spreading : to put or keep (a person or animal) in quarantine

self-isolate - v. to keep yourself apart from others

tourist - n. a person who travels to a place for pleasure

pandemic - n. an occurrence in which a disease spreads very quickly and affects a large number of people over a wide area or throughout the world

upset - adj. angry or unhappy

citation⁴ - n. an official order to appear before a court of law

stable - adj. in a good state or condition that is not easily changed or likely to change

let down one's guard - idiom. to lower one's level of caution or carefulness

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

3 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

4 citation   

n.引用，引证，引用文；传票

参考例句：

• He had to sign the proposition for the citation.他只好在受奖申请书上签了字。
• The court could issue a citation and fine Ms. Robbins.法庭可能会发传票，对罗宾斯女士处以罚款。

5 citations   

n.引用( citation的名词复数 )；引证；引文；表扬

参考例句：

• The apt citations and poetic gems have adorned his speeches. 贴切的引语和珠玑般的诗句为他的演说词增添文采。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Some dictionary writers use citations to show what words mean. 有些辞典的编纂者用引文作例证以解释词义。 来自辞典例句

6 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制