New Mexico CUTS OFF city ravaged by COVID-19: Roads into Gallup are shut and governor uses riot act to keep its 22,000 residents inside in the remote community with a third of the state's cases (16 Pics)

New Mexico’s Governor has issued a three-day emergency order in the city of Gallup where roads will be sealed off and businesses closed during peak hours in a desperate bid to stop a surging coronavirus outbreak.

On Friday Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham invoked the state’s Riot Control Act to ban all traffic in Gallup for non-residents, ordered all businesses to close from 5pm to 8am, and mandated residents stay home except for essential trips from Friday through Monday. 

The city of 22,000, along with the bordering the Navajo Nation, has seen the number of COVID-19 infection rates rise, leaving intensive care facilities in hospitals inundated with patients.

Gallup is a central hub selling basic household supplies, liquor, and water-containing refills for people who live in the remote parts of the Navajo Nation and surrounding McKinley County and for indigenous Zuni Pueblo people.

In McKinley County, which covers Gallup, there are 1,064 cases of the virus and there have been 20 deaths, more than 30 percent of the state's total cases. In New Mexico overall there are 3,513 positive cases of COVID-19 and 131 deaths reported as of Friday evening.   

On Friday New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham declared a state of emergency under the state's Riot Control Act in the city of Gallup. Members of the New Mexico National Guard as well as New Mexico State Police begin to shutdown traffic entering the city of Gallup on Friday afternoon above

Members of the New Mexico National Guard as well as New Mexico State Police pictured blocking traffic from entering Gallup on Friday under the three-day emergency lockdown order. In McKinley County, which covers Gallup, there are 1,064 cases of the virus and there have been 20 deaths, more than 30 percent of the state's total cases

This photo provided by Patrick Sandoval shows authorities cordon off sections of the roadway in Gallup, New Mexico on Friday sealing off roads to nonessential traffic to one of the largest communities bordering the Navajo Nation

Empty streets in the shut down town of Gallup pictured above following the governor's orders. Main Street pictured above with its stores shut down

Life in shut down: Edmund Watchma, left along with his daughter Shayla Watchma and his girlfriend Candice Begay pictured as they look outside their balcony after the lockdown took place near downtown. The Gallup McKinley County Chamber of Commerce says Gallup’s small town population can swell to 100,000 people or more on weekends when people from around the area come to do their shopping, which makes it hard to maintain social distancing 

Gallup, located about 158 miles west of the state's capital Santa Fe, is a central hub selling basic household supplies, liquor, and water-containing refills for people who live in the remote parts of the Navajo Nation and surrounding McKinley County. In New Mexico overall there are 3,513 positive cases of COVID-19 and 131 deaths reported as of Friday evening

Health officials say the steep climb of infections in Gallup shows no signs of flattening. The chief medical officer for the Indian Health Service in the Navajo area has said a new surge in infections is underway across the reservation.

The Navajo Nation is also trying to slow the outbreak by imposing curfews on the reservation which spans New Mexico, Arizona and Utah.

The outbreak has been particularly devastating among Native Americans. The 27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation in McKinley and San Juan Countries have become the epicenter of COVID-19 in the state.

According to state data, Native Americans account for 41.5 percent of people in New Mexico infected with COVID-19 – even though they account for less than 11 percent of the state’s population, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Bill Lee, CEO of the Gallup McKinley County Chamber of Commerce, said Gallup’s small town population can swell to 100,000 people or more on weekends when people from around the area come to do their shopping, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

The weekend population surge makes it difficult to maintain social distancing, he says.  

Lujan Grisham said that Gallup and surrounding areas have been defying social distancing orders.

'The spread of COVID19 in McKinley County is frightful. Physical distancing has not occurred and is not occurring. Stricter measures are necessary to stop the virus. A problem in one part of our state, with a virus this dangerous and contagious, is a problem for the entire state,' she tweeted Saturday.

Gallup City Police and McKinley County Sheriff’s Department are working with the New Mexico National Guard, New Mexico State Police and the Department of Transportation to enforce road closures.

Officials were seen on Friday setting up bright orange traffic cones to block incoming traffic and keep residents in.   

Shoppers at a Walmart pictured social distancing in Gallup, New Mexico on Friday following tightened lockdown restrictions

Gallup resident Phillip Silva who came into town to buy essentials for the emergency lockdown weekend pictured stocking up on food on Friday

A shutdown Shop-n-Save shop pictured above in Gallup, New Mexico on Friday May 1 following shutdown orders

At a Walmart in Gallup sections of merchandise were covered in yellow caution tape to advise shoppers that nonessential items aren't available for purchase during the emergency three-day lockdown

The Walmart posted up signs in English and Navajo to explain to customers that under the governor's orders non-essential items are not available for purchase

Over the weekend Gallup resembled a ghost town. Tiffany Benson who owns the Gallup Coffee Company (left) carries a chair inside her business at 5pm in the afternoon, the time that businesses were ordered to shutter

Locals are also banned from walking streets, driving certain roads, and restricted to having just two people in a car at a time. People are ordered to stay home except for emergency outings. 

Under the Riot Control Act, anyone who fails to comply with restrictions is guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction of a second offense is guilty of a fourth-degree felony.

Federal health officials have linked the surge in cases in Gallup to an outbreak among homeless people and nursing homes that continued at a detox center.

Homeless residents who contracted the virus were offered temporary shelter at four motels at the expense of the state to offer them a safe place to isolate and recover from the virus, however officials had a problem making them stay.

'We can’t make them stay. We’re trying to get them to stay until they’re cleared by physician as no longer infectious,' Ina Burmeister, a spokeswoman for Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services Hospital said.

There have also been reports of people ignoring social distancing orders and foregoing face masks at stores in Gallup.

The city had requested the governor declare the state of emergency under the riot act out of desperation to ban people from walking on the roads.

'I recognize this request is unusual and constitutes a drastic measure, and the emergency powers set out under the Riot Control Act should be invoked sparingly,' Gallup Mayor Louis Bonaguidi said. 'However, the COVID-19 outbreak in the city of Gallup is a crisis of the highest order. Immediate action is necessary.'

‘The spread of COVID19 in McKinley County is frightful. Physical distancing has not occurred and is not occurring. Stricter measures are necessary to stop the virus. A problem in one part of our state, with a virus this dangerous and contagious, is a problem for the entire state,’ Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham tweeted Saturday

On Friday locals in Gallup were seen in long lines trying to practice social distancing outside grocery stores and a Walmart.

Patrick Sandoval came to Gallup from Ganado on the Navajo Nation early Friday to stock up on items for his family and neighbors. He stood in line for 40 minutes to enter a Walmart and was surprised to find that entire sections were blocked off with signs in English and Navajo that put nonessential purchases off limits.

He said a longer lockdown with advanced notice might be more effective. 

'What they stopped for the weekend is only going to start Monday again,' he said.

Gov. Lujan Grisham’s general stay-at-home orders for the entire state are slated to last through May 15.

On Friday she relaxed her order to allow curbside retail pickup, the reopening of veterinarian clinics, golf courses, and limited state park reopenings.

She kept the previous order in place though for northwest counties of McKinley, San Juan and Cibola, citing 'extreme heightened risk of transmission'.

Meanwhile the small town of Grants in Cibola County has defied her orders at the prodding of Mayor Martin Hicks, who encouraged businesses in his area to open last week.