Pixabay
Pixabay
Two patients who have been infected with COVID-19 have refused to self-isolate, and the New Mexico Department of Health is seeking court intervention.
Under the 2003 Public Health Emergency Response Act, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has authority to isolate or quarantine individuals to limit the spread of a communicable disease.
This is the first time the provision has been enacted during the coronavirus pandemic.
Records are sealed in each of the two cases because they provide protected information, including the residences of the individuals.
“Our goal is not to punish or imprison people, it’s to isolate someone with COVID using the least restrictive means necessary when that person refuses to self-isolate,” Department of Health spokesman David Morgan told the Albuquerque Journal.
The governor also has the ability to impose up to $5,000 in fines for each violation, but Morgan said the Department of Health does not plan to impose fines unless necessary.
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