SANTA FE – The state of New Mexico, pursuant to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s executive order requiring quarantine for out-of-state visitors arriving from high-risk states, on Wednesday, Sept. 23, amended the list of states from which visitors and arriving residents must quarantine.

Per the executive order intended to protect New Mexicans by minimizing the risk of spread from out-of-state travel, Colorado, Oregon and Rhode Island have been added to the list of high-risk states as of Sept. 23. Individuals arriving from those states must quarantine for a period of 14 days or for the duration of their stay in the state of 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 every 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 and is disseminated each week in English and Spanish to city and county officials who manage airports within the state. Information regarding traveling can also be found on the New Mexico Tourism Department’s website.

STATE QUARANTINE ORDER

High-risk states: Persons who have arrived in New Mexico from states with a 5% positivity rate or greater over a 7-day rolling average, or a positive test rate greater than 80 per 1 million residents, must physically separate from others in a residence or place of lodging for at least 14 days from the date of their entry into New Mexico or for the duration of their presence in the state, whichever is shorter.

Lower-risk states: Persons arriving from states with a 5% positivity rate or lower over a 7-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 5 to 7 days of their arrival in the state.

Negative test exemption: 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.

COMPLIANCE

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.