New Mexico extends lockdown for town that's a US hot spot

GALLUP, N.M. (AP) — Traffic was almost nonexistent in this small New Mexico city, and just a handful of people waited their turn to get into grocery stores and other essential businesses. This place where rural residents from the largest American Indian reservation come to stock up on supplies is one of the nation's worst coronavirus hot spots, and the governor extended a lockdown Thursday to try to stem the spread.

The emergency declaration for Gallup, a gateway to the Navajo Nation, runs through noon Sunday. Patients have filled intensive care beds as COVID-19 infection rates here and in the surrounding county make the area one of the hardest hit by the pandemic. Health officials say per capita infections are 12 times that of New Mexico's largest city, Albuquerque.

Businesses will be closed from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. Residents must stay at home except for emergencies. If they go out, they must wear face coverings to any essential business or government building.

But restrictions that blocked roadways into Gallup and prevented visitors from coming in are set to expire Friday evening.

The mayor asked Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to extend the emergency declaration — instituted under the state Riot Control Act — to help turn the tide in the community. Its surge has pushed the statewide number of cases higher each day.

Health officials fear Gallup, a popular supply stop for rural residents of the nearby Navajo Nation, became a vector for transmission at stores, restaurants and water fill-up stations used by people from the surrounding areas. When first imposing the restrictions May 1, the governor said physical distancing was not being maintained.

Federal health officials also linked the severity of the problem in Gallup to an early outbreak at a detox center, which...