ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The State of New Mexico has published what could be called an instruction manual for phase one of re-opening across New Mexico, full of dos and don’ts for more than a dozen types of businesses and groups. The 47-page report titled “All Together New Mexico: COVID-safe practices for individuals and employers” was published Friday, outlining a multitude of rules the state is asking retails, restaurants, offices, and call centers among other employers to follow.
The report was in part compiled by suggestions made by the state’s Economic Recovery Council, a group of 15 “business and labor leaders from different industries around the state,” put together by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s administration.
Some of the requirements outlined in the report are notably different, including some rules for churches and restaurants. At churches, the state is “requiring” the discontinuation of choirs or congregation singing or chanting for an undetermined time period. A recent study of COVID spread amongst a Washington choir was noted during the governor’s May 13 news conference.
“It turns out that singing is a super-spreader event if you’re COVID positive,” said Dr. David Scrase, secretary of the New Mexico Department of Human Services. “The force of singing sends the virus out further, loud-speaking in public does the same thing.” The choir rule is among more than a dozen others for churches listed under the “Houses of Worship” section of the “All Together” report. Another rule requires “tithes and offerings in collection boxes only and encourage online giving.”
Restaurants have another notable requirement in the state’s new report, asking to keep four weeks of names, phone numbers, email addresses and times of visitations for customers and employees who enter the building. That log, according to the state, is to help with contact tracing. The idea is that if someone gets COVID-19, the state can easily find who may have come in contact with that person.
At Zendo Coffee in downtown Albuquerque, owner Pilar Westell says even when her business gets the green light for customers to come in, she’ll likely keep the coffee shop as a walk-up service only, to keep things safer for customer and employees. “I feel like it’s not necessarily a burden so much as it’s our responsibility to do our part, you know I think all of this is really hard for anybody, no matter what your business is, but the overall sentiment is we’re just trying to do the best we can with what we have,” Westell said in an interview with KRQE News 13 Monday.
Construction firms, car dealers, veterinarians and hotels there are some of the other industries facing specific rules outlined in the report. The state says it’s still working on rules for salons, spas, gyms, museums and casinos.